Chasing Fate
by HilaryHilary
Summary: Callie Jagielski plays the confidante in the tangled love lives of her sisters and of her male best friend, Sawyer Scott. Which, of course, means that she has no time or need of one of her own. Sequel to 'Sacrifice' and to 'Early for Two'. COMPLETE
1. Chapter One

Chasing Fate

Chapter One

"You can't shoot, you can't score, you will beat us NEVERMORE! Goooo Ravens! Hurrrray!" I chanted from the sidelines, hoping in sync with the other cheerleaders as we reached the last syllable. The players ran back onto the Court, and the riled up audience cheered. I smiled at my Mom and Dad and my little sister, sitting in the stands across from me.

"Go Scott!" I cheered for my best friend, Sawyer Scott. He turned around and grinned at me, his free shot swinging into the net as he did so.

"Let's go Ravens!" we said. Clap clap clap clap clap.

"Let's go Ravens!" Clap clap clap clap clap. The audience began to chant and clap with us.

On the wall of records I saw my uncle's name printed beside his scoring record-Nathan Scott. Across from his, I saw the only tie in the history of Tree Hill-his big brother, Lucas Scott. And another honouring the longest serving coach in our history-Brian Durham, the coach of my father's day.

"Get open!" called Uncle Nathan from the sidelines. After retiring from his career as a professional basketball player he'd come here, to teach everything he knew. After all, he was only thirty-four or so.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see my big sister, Jenny, swish her long brown hair and gaze distractedly at the game. I could tell her thoughts weren't on it but on her rebellious, moody boyfriend Rhys.

As Sawyer grabbed the ball in the final five seconds, he threw it from beyond the three point line-they were down two points. It was hit or miss.

The noise of the gym plummeted as the ball soared towards the net. I held my breath as it got closer. I glanced at him, gazing at it. Finally, after a hundred years it reached the ball, bouncing off the backboard, neatly into the net. He punched a fist in the air as his teammates surrounded him and I and my fellow cheerleaders burst into song.

I ran toward him as the gym began to empty and into his open arms.

"That was awesome!" I said encouragingly.

"Thanks. You going to the party?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course. Want to come with me and Jenny?" I asked.

"Hey guys. Where are you headed?" asked Mom as she and Dad ambled over with my sister Lauren.

"Party at Hoffman's house. Back by..?" I said, directing my question at my father. He was protective of me and my sisters.

"Midnight," he said firmly.

"Okay. Jenny and I have the car, we're taking Sawyer," I said. They both nodded.

"Can I come?" asked Lauren eagerly. I glanced at my Mom.

"No. Maybe some other time," she said soothingly as Lauren began to pout. Lauren was younger than Jenny and I, only in grade nine.

"Fine. Is Tess here?" she asked, referring to her own best friend, Sawyer's younger sister.

"No, she's at home. Maybe you could go home with my mom and dad?" he suggested. She blushed at his words.

"Okay, if they don't mind," she said.

"They won't," said Sawyer positively. Jenny, Sawyer, Lauren, Tess and I had all grown up together, almost in one big family, even including the years that Nathan had lived in Charlotte playing basketball.

"Sawyer's right. Tess will be glad to see you sweetie," said Aunt Haley, coming up behind us. I hugged her.

"Don't stay out too late, all right?" Uncle Nathan advised. Sawyer nodded.

"Yeah. I have an early workout tomorrow," responded his son.

"Your choice," he said cheerily. I looked between the two of them-they were so much alike, with the colour of their eyes and hair and their similar features. Sawyer had almost none of his mother in him.

I hugged my little sister goodbye as I walked off with. I smiled ruefully-she was two whole years younger, but at least three inches taller. Both of our parents were tall, as was Jenny. I'd always been the shrimp of the family.

The three of us got into the car that Jenny and I shared and drove the Jared Hoffman's mansion. We spent the evening there, drinking and playing games that involved confessing dirty secrets and making out. Sawyer drove us home at midnight, and helped me get Jenny into bed, who was never able to stay up late, especially when she'd been drinking.

I halted as I passed our parent's closed door. I could hear them conversing in whispers, laughing occasionally. They'd been married for almost seventeen years-and they were only about thirty-four. Most of my friend's mothers were in their late forties. Hearing my parents like this, talking happily, always gave me a sense of extreme contentment.


	2. Chapter TWo

Chapter Two

I relaxed my neck as Jenny brushed out my blonde curls. They weren't ringlets, like Mom and Lauren's, but messy waves that would never be in control.

"How's Rhys?" I asked lazily.

"Good. We're good, for once. I just with Daddy trusted him," she said. I nodded.

"He doesn't trust either of us with any guy," I added.

"Yeah, or Lauren even. You know why though," she said. Mom had gotten pregnant with me at eighteen-she didn't want that for me.

"Lauren isn't about to get in trouble any time soon. She's waiting, remember?" asked Jenny. Lauren was hopelessly in love with my best friend, who looked upon her as he looked upon me-as a sister.

"Poor thing," I said.

"She'll get over it," said Jenny confidently.

"I hope so. He's too old for her," I said. As I spoke, she opened the door without knocking and bounded into the room, handing me her hairbrush as she reached the bed and climbing in front of me so the three of us formed a chain of hair braiding.

"Tess has a boyfriend," she announced.

"Oh?" I said in surprise. I hadn't been informed of this.

"Yeah-Jason Winter," she said.

"Is he cute?" asked Jenny.

"No. Not as cute as Sawyer," she said wistfully.

"Sawyer's practically your brother," I admonished.

"No, he's practically your brother. He's the love of _my_ life," she said dramatically.

"You're fourteen," I reminded her.

"Mom was only eighteen when she married Daddy," said Lauren stubbornly.

"Jenny's not even eighteen yet. Oh, Mom told me that Auntie Brooke and her husband are visiting soon," I said airily.

"Callie!" Lauren said my name in exasperation. "Subject changer!"

"Be quiet. Anyway, I'd love to see Kylie again," I said, referring to Auntie Brooke's little daughter. It was weird, how Brooke was always 'Auntie' and Haley was always 'Aunt'.

Auntie Brooke wasn't really our Aunt. She was Mom's high school best friend and Lauren's godmother. But I carried her name-my full name was Calista Brooklyn Jagielski. Oddly enough, my godparents were Haley and Nathan, but Lauren's middle name was Haley-Lauren Haley Jagielski.

I glanced around the room as my fingers expertly twisted Lauren's thick curls into a French braid. Mom was leaning against the door frame. I knew she loved it when we all bonded. Jenny and I constantly bonded, but sometimes Lauren was left out of it.

"Hey Mom," I said. She waved from the door. After a moment she turned away, and as she did so her shirt lifted slightly and I saw her tattoo, in the middle of her lower back. Twenty-one, my Daddy's old jersey number. When we'd asked where why she'd gotten it, she'd embarrassedly admitted to being drunk.

Jenny twisted an elastic around my long braid, and I crawled backwards so the three of us could sit in a circle.

"How long do you think it will be before I'm old enough for him?" asked Lauren.

"A couple of years maybe. But you'll like someone else by then," I assured her.

"No! He's so tall," she said fondly.

"So's Tess. Weird, because Aunt Haley's so short. But Uncle Nathan is tall," said Jenny. They were both tall-both our parents were tall.

"Lauren!" called Dad from the main floor. "Phone for you!"

"Oh, Tess," she said distractedly, running off to her room.

"She's so young," I said after she'd left, laughing. Jenny giggled.

"She is. You were too though," she pointed out.

"I remember when you were her age I thought you were so old!" I said.

"I feel sorry for her though-Sawyer isn't a commitment kind of guy," she said. I glanced guiltily at her-Sawyer's secret was the only one I'd never told her.

"I guess. She'll find someone else. Like you say, she's young," said Jenny.

"Yeah. Hey, why are we home?" I asked.

"Oh, long story. Sawyer's buried in homework, Rhys is grounded again, the rest of the basketball guys are doing some weird guy bonding thing and football players are so last season," she said. It was a rare thing, the two of us being home on a Saturday evening.

As she left to go brush her teeth, I transferred from her bed to mine. In the old house, we'd shared a bedroom since before my first birthday. When Lauren had come along she'd slept in Mom and Dad's room for almost two years before moving into the smallest room in the house, barely larger than a storage cupboard. Here, in the new house, we all had room for our own rooms. In fact, we had more rooms than that, but Jenny and I were far too used to sharing.

"Hey Daddy," I said, looking up in surprise as he came to sit at the end of my bed.

"Hey sweetie. How was your day?" he asked.

"Okay. I went shopping with Lucy and Stacey at the mall. What did you do?" I asked.

"Oh, your Mom and I went to buy a new kitchen table, and we visited the Scott's. So is Jenny back with Rhys?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"So not a snitch," I said.

"Fair enough. So how are you? How are the guys in your life?" he asked.

"Not worth mentioning. I got Sawyer, and sorting out his love life is enough for me," I said. Daddy knew about the Lauren-Sawyer-Jenny triangle.

"Sawyer's a nice boy," said Daddy.

"So not. So I heard Auntie Brooke and Kylie are visiting?" I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, and her husband, in a week. Oh, we have a wedding to attend," he said.

"Who's?"

"Oh, a high school friend. Her name's Theresa, you don't know her. But the Scott's are coming too, so it'll be fun," he said.

"Can I get a new dress?" I asked.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"And shoes?"

"Cal you have a thousand pairs of shoes," I said.

"Yeah, but I need them to go with the dress!" I protested.

"Fine, shoes. But no make up or underthings or hair things or whatever, just the dress and shoes. And take your sisters, and don't let Lauren look older than her age," he warned. I giggled.

"Fine, three new dress and three pairs of shoes," I said, holding out my hand. He reluctantly tipped his master card into it.

"You know you're a pretty good Dad," I said, smiling at him.

"Well, I have had seventeen years of practice," he said wryly.

"I think it's crazy that you and Mom were parents at my age," I said.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I got to go. Good night Squirt," he said, kissing my forehead.

"Hate it when you call me that," I said.

"Yes, sweetie, but it works."

Jenny came in as he left.

"Hey, we're going shopping tomorrow. And they suspect you again," I said, holding up the credit card.

"What? You told?" she asked, running to the beds.

"No! I guess you just suck at this," I said. Lunging at me, she began to tickle as I shrieked and writhed and tried to tickle her back.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

He was concentrating. His eyes were fast on the net as he brought the ball back to level with his head to spring it up. His arm went straight up like a pistol fired and followed through as the shot went into the chain net.

He didn't even hear my car as I pulled up. Stealthily, I turned off the engine and crept up, waiting for him to fire another shot before I jumped on his back. His concentration was completely ruined and the shot was about five feet shy of the net. He laughed.

"Please say it's Callie," he said.

"No, Jenny. I love you Sawyer Scott," I said, jokingly seductive.

"So not funny. How's it going?" he asked as I slid down to the floor of the cement court.

"Good. Lauren and Jen and I just went shopping for the wedding. Oh, we ran into Warren Foster," I said happily.

"He's an ass," said Sawyer immediately in reference to the senior varsity basket ball player.

"A hot ass. A hot everything really. You act like I'm your sister," I whined.

"You are. Much as Tess is, only she doesn't need so much looking after," he teased.

"That's what you think. I heard she has a boyfriend," I responded.

"What? Who?"

"Jason Winters. Duh. Lauren's jealous and everything. Man, are you ever behind the times," I said. He playfully hit my shoulder.

"I'll go check him out tomorrow. He'd better not hurt her," he said.

"He won't. She's tough," I said confidently. He applauded as I caught the rebound of his next shot.

"Nice! Now bring it back, spring…" he said in concentration. It bounced off the rim and I looked pitifully at him. "BJ, I need help."

"Don't call me that, Squirt. And anyway, what are you, five?" he asked, but agreeably handed me the ball again and took hold of my waist, holding me high enough to slam dunk the ball. We both cheered.

"Sawyer?" came a voice of surprise from the sidelines. He carefully set me down and turned. The face was one I vaguely recognized from television but couldn't place. I nervously smoothed my hair.

"That's me," he said. The man approached. He had dark blonde hair and looked to be in his mid thirties. The intense look on his face surprised me.

"Sawyer. Sawyer Brian Scott. Is that your girlfriend?" asked the man, staring at Sawyer.

"No. This is Callie. Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Lucas," he explained. I cocked my head sideways.

"Lucas? Lucas Scott, my Uncle? The one who plays in the NBA? What's up?" asked Sawyer. Lucas Scott smiled and I recognized him from pictures and stories of the past.

"Yeah, that's me. You look just like your Dad," he said.

"And not Mom-that's what everybody says," said Sawyer.

"You sound a bit like Haley. Callie, you said?" he said, turning his attention to me. His eyes skimmed my hair and face and he looked to be searching for something.

"Calista Brooklyn Jagielski, and I've never met you," I said.

"Peyton's daughter?" he asked. Instinctively, Sawyer wrapped a protective arm around my waist.

"Yeah. And Jake's," I said.

"You got his eyes. How is Peyton?" he asked.

"Good, I guess," I said in surprise. He still cared?

"And how's your little sister? I heard she had a second, after you were born," he said.

"Third," I said slowly.

"Right. I was looking for Karen Scott, and she's moved since I was last here," he said.

"You don't know where your mother lives? I'll take you there," I volunteered. He nodded and the three of us piled silently into my car.

"Callie!" she said as we entered.

"Grandma," I said happily as she hugged me. Technically speaking, Karen wasn't my grandma in the least.

"Sawyer," she said. He greeted her as Lucas walked in the door. Her eyes slid to him, and opened up wide. She shrieked and her husband, Keith came running.

"Luke! Oh my God, where have you been? Why haven't you been home? How are you?" she burst out in a long string of worrying questions as they embraced.

"We found him at the River Court," I said. She nodded, blinking away tears. My cell phone rang. I blushed as the tacky salsa music began to play, and quickly answered it.

"Cal? It's almost ten," said Daddy's strict voice through the phone.

"I'll be right there," I promised. Karen didn't even notice as the two of us walked out.

"Wow, that was weird," I said.

"It was. Dad told me that he and Lucas were really close and then he basically disappeared after graduation," said Sawyer. I nodded.

"Yeah, Mom said the same thing. He's the only non-married one of their group," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but they all married so young," said Sawyer. I nodded.

"Do you ever notice how disapproving other parents are of our parents?" I asked.

"Yeah, like they're affronted at how young they are, as though we're all products of crazy crack whore prostitutes," he said.

"Whereas in reality we are not. Just retired musicians and basketball players," I said.

"Yeah. And Doctors and night club owners," he said.

"Not too shabby. Don't you think it's weird how Dad almost tried to get me to not play, and he was a professional?" he said as we started the car.

"Yeah. Like you're talented, why doesn't he encourage you more?" I said.

"It's weird. Hey, what is this?" he asked as a song began to come through my CD player. I looked at him oddly.

"_Dancing Where the Stars go Blue_ by Haley James Scott," I said slowly.

"What? I've never head this. Who is that?" he asked as a male voice took over Aunt Haley's.

"Chris something or other. Why have you never heard this?"

"Don't know. It's good though. Weird, hearing my Mom sing a love song with some other guy," he said.

"Probably before they got married," I said consolingly.

"Definitely. It's weird to think of that-what our parents did after they got marrie and before we came along," he said. We'd come along within two weeks of one another, when all of our parents but my Dad has been eighteen.

"Not a lot, probably," I said.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

_"Girl inform me all my senses warn me_

_your clever eyes could easily disguise _

_some backwards purpose_

_it's enough to make me nervous_

_do you harbor sighs, or spit in my eye."_

_"_This is good," remarked Sawyer of the CD playing on the car stereo.

"Of course."

"It's crap," declared Jenny from the backseat.

"You have terrible taste. Where are you going?" I asked her. I was driving, Sawyer was in the passenger seat and Jenny was in the back.

"Rhys'. Could you drop me off?" she asked. I nodded and glanced sideways at Sawyer before pulling off into a residential street.

He watched as she hugged me with difficulty through the seat and hopped out of the car with her purse in her hand. She waved as the door opened, and I backed out of the driveway and drove off.

"Still in love with her?" I asked softly. He was staring out the window.

"Yeah. She's too good for me," he said.

"That's not the problem. The problem is that she has a boyfriend, she's older, and she has no idea you like her," I said.

"That's three problems," he said.

"Two and a half. Rhys and her break up monthly. I don't know how you can focus on one person for so long," I said, shaking my head. He laughed.

"It's easy. Just look at her," he said.

"You say that often enough to make me feel ugly," I argued.

"You're gorgeous, trust me. Otherwise you wouldn't be a hot topic of locker room conversation," he teased. I perked up.

"Oh, really? Who?" I asked eagerly.

"All the basketball guys," he said.

"Ooh, I'll flirt with Eli Hutchings tomorrow. Isn't there anyone else you like?" I asked. His thing for Jenny had been going on since we'd started middle school.

"No. They can't talk to me without flirting, and they aren't interesting enough. No one's like her. Except for you, you're like her. But not like that, you know?" he said.

"Wow, are you blushing. You're going home, right?" I said. He nodded, and I dropped him off at the Scott mansion before pulling into the long driveway of our own house, only a block away.

When I walked in, I was surprised to hear Mom and Daddy yelling in the next room. I stopped to listen.

"I don't care that he's back! I didn't even know!" said Mom angrily.

"How would you feel if Nikki came back?" he asked. Nikki?

"Different case entirely," she argued.

"How so? He seems to have Cal believing that it's pretty much the same," Daddy said. What did I think? I loudly dropped my book bag on the floor and they heard it and came from the next room, smiling falsely.

"Hey Callie, how was your day? Where's Jenny?" asked Mom.

"It was good, and I dunno. What were you guys talking about in there?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing. I heard you met Lucas?" said Daddy.

"Yeah, for about thirty seconds. We took him to see Karen," I explained. Daddy nodded, looking pensive.

"Who's Nikki?" I asked. They exchanged looks.

"One of Daddy's old girlfriends," said Mom.

"Oh. So you dated Lucas Scott?" I asked interestedly.

"Briefly. He was a very good friend of your father. They were on the basketball team together," said Mom shortly.

"I should be talented at basketball. I suck," I said.

"Cal, you're five foot two. It's a tiny bit understandable if you're not an all star," said Daddy.

"Yeah, maybe, but not fair," I said. I noticed Daddy glance at my outfit.

"Did you wear that today?" he asked, surprised. I glanced down at my outfit-a pair of white sweatpants with Duke on the rear, a tight white sweater and a green halter that vaguely matched my eyes. I rolled them.

"Daddy, you worry too much. Yes, I wore this. Yes, I'm not pregnant. By the way, why are you home?"

"The office closes early on Thursdays, Squirt, always has," said Daddy, laughing. Daddy worked as a pediatrician.

"Right, knew that. Hey, isn't it that wedding tonight?" I asked.

"Yes. Seven sharp. Be at the house or we'll track you down," said Mom with pseudo strictness.

"Okay. Hey, will Auntie Brooke be there?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. You'll get to see them tonight," promised Mom.

_Author's note: the lyrics above are a clip from a song by 'The Shins,' called 'Girl Inform me'. I have no claim to it. You guys have a lot of questions that sadly I can't answer right now, but rest assured that they will be answered. So how do you like Callie and Sawyer and Jenny? _


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Straight or curly?" asked Jenny as we sat together in front of our bathroom mirror. I considered.

"Just leave it, or tie it back," I said after a pause. She shrugged and simply brushed out my hair. We stitched places.

"Up or down?"

"Up," she requested. I put her long, straight, brown hair up in a bun in the back of her head, leaving some strands to dangle around her oval face.

I straightened Lauren's ringlets before we all went back into Jenny and my room to put on our dresses. Mine was simple, but I loved it-it was knee length, spaghetti strapped and white silk. I happily put on my heels, which made me several inches taller.

We admired ourselves in the mirror. I looked fondly at my sisters-they were both so beautiful and I loved them so much. Sometimes I wondered if normal families were like us, so connected. I told Jenny everything, Lauren most things. I even talked to my parents, when they weren't driving me crazy. I told Mom all about the guys I dated, and I told Daddy all about the gossip at school and my fears. Was it because they were young? Mom and Daddy had only been sixteen when they'd had Jenny, my age.

"We look hot," declared Jenny. Lauren and I nodded.

"We do. Let's go find Mom and Dad," said Lauren. We left, holding hands in a long train.

They were kissing when we found them by the door, having forgotten their argument of only a few hours ago. It was nice, in a weird way, how much they loved each other.

"Guys, get a room," said Lauren. They broke apart, blushing. Mom playfully swapped Lauren's head.

"You guys look beautiful," said Daddy.

"You look good too," I said truthfully. Daddy was in a suit, and Mommy had on a nice green dress. She was nice looking, especially for someone her age. I'd seen pictures of her in high school, she'd been very pretty. And they both had nice curly hair, like Lauren's. My hair was how my Dad's would look if it was longer, and Jenny's was bizarrely very straight.

I squabbled with Jenny and Lauren about the middle seat before the five of us got in the car. Eventually the inevitable argument came-I was the smallest, so apparently it made the most sense for me to be in the smallest spot.

Later, at the wedding reception, we were with the Scotts. Some of my parents other high school friends hovered around us-Tim Smith, Bevin, Mouth, even Lucas, Sawyer's Uncle.

"Auntie Brooke!" I yelled excitedly as I saw her and her daughter and husband enter. She turned to me and grinned, opening her arms. I ran to hug her.

"Uncle Tonio," I said fondly, after I'd greeted Brooke. Antonio was Auntie Brooke's husband. He was a lot older than her, but it didn't seem to matter in their relationship. He hugged me as well.

"Callie, it's good to see you. How have you been?" he asked.

"Good! I'm on the squad again this year, which is fun," I said.

"Bet your mother loves that," said Brooke, laughing. I giggled before kneeling down to greet their six year old, Kylie.

By this time, Mom had wandered over and hugged her best friend. Daddy hugged Auntie Brooke and shook Uncle Tonio's hand. He turned to Brooke as a slow song came on.

"Want to dance?" he asked. She nodded and took her husband's hand. The rest of them quickly paired off-Uncle Nathan and Aunt Haley danced, Mom sat down while Daddy took Jenny's hand, Lauren playfully began to dance with Kylie, her feet on Lauren's. Lucas seemed about to ask Mom but then looked as though he thought better of it and asked his niece, Tess.

I sat down with Mom, who began to tell me about the bride, Theresa, in her high school days. I looked up to see Uncle Nathan conversing with his son in a whisper. Nathan shook his head in my direction, Sawyer glanced over and blushed. Nathan gave him a slight push, and he appeared at my side.

"Want to dance?" he asked awkwardly. I giggled.

"What do you think I am, blind? This sure is flattering," I said, remaining seated. Mom prodded me with her finger.

"Go on, Cal," she requested. Sighing dramatically I stood and accepted the hand he offered.

"You should have asked Jenny," I said as he began to lead me around to the music.

"She was taken," he said, laughing. We both looked to where Jenny and Daddy were talking, giggling occasionally.

"Well, you should learn to act quickly," I teased.

"I'm not good with girls who don't throw themselves at me," he admitted. I suddenly became aware of his arm, holding me close. It was weird, like dancing with a relative.

"There aren't many," I said softly. I glanced covertly at Lauren, who was staring at us. She'd be mad at me later.

"Well I am pretty damn good looking," he said. I rolled my eyes, but he was right. Girls were always after him, and his broad features, short black hair and blue eyes paired with the occasional puppy dog look were endearing.

"Right, in your head. By the way, since when do you own a suit?" I asked curiously. It was obviously of good quality, and his tie was silk.

"Mom said we should buy it. She's weird," he said.

"Your mom's right," I said, looking to my left to where she was dancing, occasionally singing along to the music in her beautiful voice.

"Maybe. How long did it take you to get your Dad to buy you a new dress?"

"About thirty seconds," I said proudly.

"That's quite a feat, even for you," he admitted. Sawyer knew me well.

"Yeah. I went shopping with Jenny and Lauren last Saturday," I explained.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked.

"Of course, always. I just love Lauren's dress," I said, hinting. I saw him glance at her, saw her smile at him.

"She looks nice. Mom and Tess went shopping last week as well," he said.

"Yeah, she was telling me," I said. I'd never been as close to Tess as I had been to Sawyer, but I loved her anyway.

"So is Lauren still talking about Jason whatever?" asked Sawyer.

"Oh, Tess' boyfriend? Not so much, I think she's wary of me telling you, and Tess doesn't want you to know. He's fairly harmless," I said, laughing.

"I don't trust him," he said staunchly.

"You're paranoid-you never trust any of my guys, either," I reminded him.

"Well, your heart gets broken every time, so I learn from experience," he said.

"Ouch. By the way, what's this I hear about you and Kimberly West?" I asked. He looked down.

"Well. I was rather drunk," he explained. "As was she."

"Sawyer! This is why Jenny doesn't think you're available you know!" I said, angry at him for more reasons than one. She was a good friend of mine, and we were on the squad together.

"I talked to her the next day, she's fine with the one time thing. And how did you know about that? You weren't there," he said.

"Yeah, well, be more discreet about it next time," I advised.

"Okay, new subject. Do you notice Lucas being weird with your Mom?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did too? Like he's afraid of something," I said thoughtfully.

"Maybe she rejected him," he suggested. After a moment, I shook my head.

"That doesn't fit. I know Mom and Daddy have been together since they were sixteen, and before that she was with Uncle Nathan, so I don't know how they'd all fit in. But look at Mouth," I instructed, swiveling him around. He did, and followed his gaze.

"He's staring at Brooke!"

"Weird, huh? I've been noticing. It's weird, because obviously they were never together, so why would he still care about her?" I wondered. The very idea of Brooke and Mouth was laughable.

"Uncle Tonio's good for her," remarked Sawyer.

"Yeah, he's great. And you'd think the age difference would matter-he's what, fifty-three? But it doesn't. He's youthful, and kind of a fox for someone light years too old for me. And he's so great with Kylie," I said. The song ended and we broke apart.

I watched happily as Sawyer hurried to Jenny and asked her to dance. Lauren walked quickly over to me and shot me a pained look.

"Why were you dancing with him?" she demanded.

"Because he asked me, because his Dad asked him to ask, and because he's my best friend. Not because he's in love with me, don't worry," I said under my breath.

"Wait, he's dancing with Jenny. What does that mean?" she asked suspiciously. I avoided my sister's eye.

"Oh my God! Sawyer likes…" I clapped my hand over her mouth and forced her down under a table.

"Jenny!" she gasped finally.

"Yes, he always has. But you cannot say anything," I ordered.

"Of course. Sawyer and Jenny?" she said incrediously.

"Sawyer would like to think so. How are you feeling?" I asked, squeezing her hand.

"Surprisingly I'm fine-I guess deep down, I never thought that we'd actually be together. So you new about this and didn't tell her?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I always keep his secrets," I admitted.

"Wow. I have to say, I always thought he was in love with you," she said. I scoffed.

"Ew."


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Glancing around guiltily, I knelt to my knees in the attic and opened the box.

The first things I found where baby things-things the three of us had all played with. Next was clothing, baby clothes mixed with teenager things. I found an old cheerleader outfit, almost identical to the one I wore, a basketball. My heart in my throat, eventually I found a silk, crumpled wedding gown.

At the bottom of the box I found a portfolio. A simple black folder filled with sketches. From the signature on some of them, I recognized them as my mother's. I sat back on my heels to pursue them.

They depicted angst. A teenage Brooke said that her boyfriend just wanted to be friends. A boat grew farther away as a little girl grew larger. Mom's father? He had died before my birth, and Lauren was unofficially named after her. Three teenagers shot guns at a heart around a number three. Why three?

I paused at one. Two hands, one female and one male, were crossed over one another. Both sported wedding rings.

_But sometimes they come back._

What did that mean?

"Callie?" called a voice. It didn't occur to me to hide, or shove the picture back in the box. I was lost in it.

Mom joined me in the attic.

"Cal, what are you doing in here? It's filthy," she said, coming to sit beside me.

"Mom, what does this mean?" I asked quietly. I felt her eyes move to the drawing, heard her swallow nervously.

"I drew it for Uncle Nathan," she said. I glanced at her, question in my eyes.

"He was sad."

"Why?"

"Look at the date, sweetie," she requested. I did, and calculated.

"That's what… five months after he married Haley? What was wrong?" I asked.

"She left him," she said slowly.

"What? No she didn't, she's still here," I said.

"I know, Brooke and I went to New York to bring her back. I drew the picture when Nathan was depressed, barely existing," she explained.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I managed to ask.

"Haley didn't want you guys to know. She wanted it to disappear, because she was ashamed," explained Mom.

"Sawyer doesn't know?" I asked in surprise.

"If Sawyer knew, he'd have told you," said Mom.

"This doesn't make sense," I said suddenly.

"What?"

"This picture. If you'd have given it to Uncle Nathan, it would be in their house. But it's not, it's here. Are you lying to me?" I asked, aghast. Mom had always treated me as much like an equal as she could.

"No! He gave it back!"

"Why?"

"Because I was sad," she said reluctantly. What was she telling me?

"Mom…" I said warningly. She put an arm around me, but I shrugged it off.

"Because your father wasn't around, and I was worried he never would be again," she admitted.

"He left you?" I squeaked.

"I deserved it."

"How? What could you possibly have done?" I asked. Her eyes slid heavenward, up into a skylight on the ceiling.

"I kissed Lucas Scott," she said. I gasped.

"When?"

"June, 2004," she said. I calculated.

"I was conceived?"

"Just barely."

"How could you do that?" I managed to ask.

"Lucas was my first love. And I've always sucked with commitment, and I was scared of being with Jake," she said. I stared.

"What? You were scared of commitment? Then why the hell did you get married at eighteen?" I demanded.

"That's a long story. How are you feeling Cal?" she asked, obviously concerned. She touched me knee gently, but I stood up.

"Don't call me that. Don't you dare."

"Callie…"

"Be quiet."

"Let me explain!" she begged.

"I don't want to hear it. Ever," I declared.

"Callie please!"

"No! How dare you?" I asked, running from the room, down the stairs and out of the house.

Suddenly, without meaning to, I ended up at the Scott mansion. I rushed in the door. Haley greeted me and quickly noticed my tear streaked face.

"Callie what's wrong?" she asked in concern. I glared at her.

"Don't even talk to me," I ordered, heading for the stairs. She ran to catch up, and took my arm. She was around my height, only a bit taller.

"Callie what's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't even look at you," I said angrily.

"Callie! I've known you since the day you were born. I helped raise you, I love you as much as my own child. Tell me," she begged. I turned to her.

"Mom told me everything," I said simply.

"About Nikki?" she said, her eyes bugging.

"Who's Nikki?" I asked curiously. Her eyes grew rounder, and she seemed to regret her words.

"No one of consequence. What did Peyton say?"

"That you left Uncle Nathan. How could you do that to him?"

"Because I was stupid. I've regretted it a thousand times since then but it's in the past now," she said. I wasn't angry at her so much as my mother-she was just around to bear the blame.

"You love him. He loves you," I said.

"I know. That's always been true. But for god's sake, I was sixteen. Your age. I couldn't do it. But it was such a long time ago. What else did she say?" I asked.

"That she kissed Lucas, and Daddy left her. After she had Jenny, Haley. After I was conceived. How could she do that?"

"She made a mistake. They'd gone out before, no one can forget their first love," she quoted.

"When they were what, fifteen?"

"I'm not getting into that. That's all she told you?" she asked nervously.

"What else could there possibly be? I'm going upstairs," I said. She nodded, realizing slowly what I was about to tell her son.

Sawyer was at his desk, studying, when I entered, but stood up and turned around. I threw myself into his arms, sobbing. He held me confusedly.

"Callie? What happened? Who was it?" he asked soothingly.

"No one, stupid. Mom… she…" I stuttered. He half carried, half dragged me to the bed.

"She did what? Did you get in a fight?" he asked.

"Yes. But she kissed Lucas BJ! She kissed him!"

"What, just recently?" he asked, bewildered.

"No. Years ago, after Jenny was born and just after they got married. She was kissing him! What if I'm not Daddy's?" I said in fear.

"You are, you're just like him. She kissed Lucas? I can't believe that. You can stay here if you want. How did you find out?" he asked. He tucked my loose hair behind my ear.

"I found this picture. Oh, she gave it to your Dad, when your Mom left him," I said bitterly.

"What?"

"Your Mom left him seventeen years ago, and then Brooke and Peyton dragged her back and then they got back together, I guess," I said. He seemed somehow less bothered about this than I had been.

"Wow. Anything else?"

"Just one thing. I told your Mom that my Mom had told me everything and she mentioned someone named Nikki," I said.

"Probably nothing important. I mean, it seemed as though if Peyton wanted to tell you anything she might as well have told you everything, right?" he said.

"Yeah. But why did Haley immediately jump to that? It can't be completely inconsequential," I argued.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked worriedly. I leaned against his broad chest, and felt him rest his chin on the top of my head.

"Not immediately. But I can't go home right now," I said. I felt his nod on my scalp.

"Stay then. For as long as you need," he suggested.

"As long as forever?"

"Squirt, you're my best friend. You always will be. If forever's what you need, forever's what you'll get," he said.

"I love you BJ," I said , snuggling into his chest. He laughed.

"I love you too," he said.

Hours later, I found myself in Sawyer's hoodie, tucked into his bed with morning sun streaming in the windows. Rolling over, I could see him at the door, conversing with someone.

"No, she's not ready," he said firmly.

"Not your decision," said a voice. My Mother's.

"It's what she wants," he repeated.

"Sawyer, let me talk to her," insisted Mom. I heard her push her way through, and she came to sit beside me on the bed. I rolled around to face away from her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Haley told me you were here," she said.

"Okay, I'll kill her later," I said.

"Don't. Sweetheart, talk to me," she begged.

"I can't talk to you. I don't trust you anymore. Am I Daddy's daughter?" I asked.

"Yes."

"And Jenny is as well?"

"Yes," she answered slowly.

"It wasn't… carnal?" I asked awkwardly.

"Never," she swore.

"Was I a mistake?" I asked her. She recoiled slightly.

"You were a surprise," she admitted.

"A regret?"

"Never. I love you Callie. We all do."

"How could you not tell me?" I asked.

"When could it have been possible?" she asked. I hated to admit that she was right.

"I can't believe you did that to Daddy," I said.

"It was horrible, and I wish it had never happened. But I was afraid of what being with Daddy might mean," she said.

"And what's that?"

"That I'd have to trust him," she said. She reached over and handed me a drawing. Seven teenagers around a campfire-I recognized Brooke sitting in Mouth's lap, Mom sitting with Daddy, Nathan and Haley and Lucas by himself.

"This is what we really are," she said. I stared a the closeness the picture managed to convey.

"Mouth and Brooke?"

"They were completely in love for a while," she said.

"Why didn't they get married?" I asked curiously.

"Not everyone marries their first love," she said.

"Right-just Nathan and Haley and Daddy," I said bitterly.

"No, I wasn't Daddy's first love," she said.

"What? Who was? Oh, don't tell me-Haley right?" I asked sarcastically.

"No. A woman named Nicole Turner," she said. I nodded.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"She disappeared."


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

It was almost a full week before I left the Scott house and returned home.

Mom stopped bothering me after her initial visit. Jenny came by with the stuff I'd need, and listened, stunned, to the story of our parent's past and came up with several plausible answers as to who Nikki could possibly be. We called Lauren, who came to join us, and the three of us had had almost a wake for our old life.

It was Haley who convinced me to leave. After I'd yelled at her, I'd remained civil toward her, almost as I was in everyday life.

"Callie? Are you awake?" she asked one evening, six days after I'd arrived.

"Yeah," I said slowly. I was nowhere near sleep. She came to sit on the bed Sawyer and I were sharing.

"You know I love you, but you have to go home," she said.

"I can't," I said honestly.

"I know it seems like that, but your Mom made a mistake. And it was fifteen years ago, she doesn't deserve to be punished for it now. We all made mistakes back then. Her, me, Nathan," she said. She paused. "Jake."

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to talk to her, act as though everything is normal."

"You shouldn't! She doesn't want you to pretend like nothing is wrong, like everything is the way it always has been. She's really broken up about it. She can't think of anything else. And now your sisters are freezing her out, and she feels like the worst person in the universe. And I more than anyone understand why she might have felt like that, but more than anyone I know why she doesn't deserve to feel it know! Your Mom's an incredible person! She gave up so much for you and Jenny and Jake," she insisted.

"Why you more than anyone?" I asked, sitting up and crossing my legs.

"Okay, guess it's history week. You know how I left Nathan? It was because of my music career. I wanted to go on tour with this guy, Chris Keller and some famous singers, and he told me that if I left, we were through. Then he went out, and I packed up my stuff and went to meet the bus," she said.

"Why was Nathan being so mean?" I asked in surprise. It seemed distinctly un-him.

"Because I kissed Chris before I left," she admitted. I would have been angry and shocked, but I'd used those emotions too often in the last week for them to mean anything.

"Why?"

"Because I was confused. Because maybe I was too young. Because he was so talented. Because he kissed me and it didn't even occur to me to pull away," she said.

"After you went on tour…" I started.

"He tried for a year," she said, laughing.

"What happened to him?" I asked curiously.

"Oh-after I came back here he followed me back, and then my big sister humiliated him in front of the press and his career was ruined. You'll see him on infomercials occasionally," she said breezily.

"Oh," was all I could say.

"So if you're not mad at me, how can you possibly be mad at your mother?" she asked softly. I realized that she'd been planning that statement since she entered the room.

"I guess I have to go back," I said, swinging my legs over the bed. She smiled and pulled me into an embrace.

It was dark when I arrived in front of my house, lugging my knapsack. It was a nice house, I thought reflectively. I loved the original house more, the one I'd been born in. But this one was huge, and prettier than the Scott mansion. And it had all the nice things-a swimming pool out back, hardwood floors. I'd missed it. All the lights were on and I could see Jenny and Lauren sitting by the window in our room.

Mom and Daddy were talking quietly when I entered. Mom immediately sprung up and ran toward me. She threw her arms around me and I allowed her to. Slowly I hugged her back.

"I'm so, so sorry Callie," she said.

"I know. And I'm not going to freeze you out, and I can get my sisters to back down. But if you ever keep something from me again like this…" I warned.

"I know, I know. Do you want to talk?" she suggested.

"No, I'm going upstairs," I said quietly. I ran from the room and up the staircase, into my room.

They both shrieked when I entered and we all met in a three way hug. After a long stretch of excited chatter, we settled into our routine-we all sat on my bed in a chain from youngest to eldest and braided each others hair for the night.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

I quickly learned that listening behind doors was the only way to get information.

"In some ways he's the perfect man for me," I heard Brooke's voice say one day.

"But..?" said Mom in expectation.

"No, really. He's so charming and sweet, and sexy. And he understands me more than most do. And most of the time he makes me happy, and he's a great father to Kylie," she said.

"Brooke what are you getting at?" asked Mom.

"Sometimes I think I should have married Mouth," she admitted.

"I always thought that," said Mom.

"I knew you did. But we were too young," she said.

"You could have grown! And maybe it's not too late," comforted Mom.

"He asked me too early. I couldn't turn him down and just go back to the way things were. And trust me, it's too late," she said. I could hear tears in her voice.

"What, he doesn't love you anymore?" asked Mom in surprise. Judging by the looks he gave her, I'd agree with Mom: he most definitely still loved her.

"No, at the wedding he declared undying love. Or something. But I'm married, Peyton. I can't leave him," she said. I peered through a crack in the door and saw her glance down at her diamond.

"Actually, if he doesn't make you happy, you can," said Mom.

"I can't, honestly," repeated Brooke.

"What are you talking about?"

"There was a pre-nup," she said slowly.

"What? Well, so what if you don't have money. We'll help you and Kylie out," promised Mom.

"No, it's worse. See I was pregnant before we got married…" she started.

"No you weren't," interrupted Mom.

"Actually I was. I lost it, I just never told anyone. So I went to him, and told him I was pregnant. And he said he'd only marry me if I signed an agreement so he showed it to me and I read it, and…" Brooke was having trouble getting the words out in between her jagged breaths.

"What is it?" asked Mom. I held my breath, suspecting I knew.

"It said that he could divorce me without giving me anything. That the children would go to him," she choked.

"Why the hell did you sign that?" asked Mom in alarm.

"I had to. I was pregnant," she sobbed.

"There's no more to it? Why would he come up with an agreement like that anyway?" wondered Mom aloud.

"Because he loves me, I think."

"Dear God. He made you, didn't he? Did he force you to sign it?" asked Mom in alarm.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Does he ever hurt you?"

"Barely ever."

"Barely? Recently?" asked Mom. I swallowed a shaky breath and willed myself to gain the courage to glance back into the room. I saw Brooke rolled down the shoulder of her blouse, revealing a bruise on her shoulder. I stifled a gasp.

"You can't stay with someone like that," said Mom. I could see her begin to cry as well.

"I have to. I need Kylie, she's more important than this. And I can't leave her with him. I mean, who could?"

"Do you think he's faithful?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," said Brooke.

"Why?"

"Because he loves me. I know that's why he made me sign that thing. In some weird, twisted way he's madly in love with me. And in some ways, I am with him," she admitted.

"How?"

"You can't choose who you fall in love with. You know that Peyton," said Brooke.

"I wish we could," said Mom, laughing dryly.

"It would make life easier. Haley told me that Callie found out about you and Luke? Did she find out about Nikki?" asked Brooke.

"No, thankfully. If she knew…" said Mom. I inched the door slight more open, and it creaked on its hinges. Both heads swiveled in my direction.

"Calista Brooklyn Jagielski!" fired out Mom. I hung my head guiltily.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. Brooke came to me, took my hand and led me into the room.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," said Auntie Brooke.

"I am as well. Who's Nikki?" I asked again.

"I already told you," said Mom.

"That doesn't make sense. If she was just an ex-girlfriend of Daddy, she wouldn't be so important. I mean, you used to date Uncle Nathan but now you're just friends and it doesn't matter anymore," I said defensively.

"That's different," she said.

"How?"

"Nathan and I were together because of the right reasons, and we were never in love," she said.

"So it was just for sex?" I asked.

"Callie!" exclaimed Mom.

"I'm not a baby, Mom. Just tell me-how bad could it possibly be?" I whined.

"It's Daddy's news, not mine. And while we're on the subject of lies, what about your own?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked in annoyance.

"Rhys and Jenny are back together, aren't they?" asked Mom. I sighed.

"Yes, whatever. But I never lied to you about that," I said.

"Fair enough, but I never lied to you about this!" she defended. I rolled my eyes and left the room.

Once in my own room, I walked to the computer on my desk and opened up a browser. Nervously I found an online phone book and typed in her name-Nicole Turner. There was only one in North Carolina. She lived in Charlotte. A drivable distance.

Jenny came up behind me and gasped.

"What are you planning?" she asked.

"Exactly what you think I'm planning. Come on," I ordered.

We left a note on her bed and packed, tiptoeing out of the house without even telling Lauren. Once outside, we sped towards our car and drove down the block.

I screeched to a stop when I saw Sawyer shooting hoops outside of their house. He jogged to the car and leaned into the open window.

"Where are you going?" he asked in confusion.

"Charlotte. You coming?" I asked. He glanced from me to Jenny, his gaze staying on her the longest. He nodded.

"Hell yes. Let's go."


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

"You guys are completely insane," said Sawyer, not for the first time.

"Call me Nancy Drew," I said.

"I hate to sound like my Mother, but if your parents don't want you to know then can't you just leave it and wait till they tell you?" he suggested timidly. Jenny and I glanced at each other.

"No," we answered simultaneously.

"Huh. I can't believe I just left without telling anyone where I was going," he said.

"Live a little sweetheart," suggested Jenny.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," he said.

"So how do we know that this is the right Nicole Turner?" questioned Jenny.

"I don't, if she isn't we'll just find the next one," I said calmly.

"How? What do we do, knock on her door and tell her that she's someone, and she knows something, she has to do with us somehow?" said Jenny.

"You got a better plan?" I said defensively.

"Nope. And I need to know," said Jenny simply.

After only a short time Sawyer took over driving and I slept in the passenger seat while Jenny reclined in the back.

Charlotte was a city big enough to seem thrilling to our small town eyes. I recalled Mom telling me of the time she's visited New York just before she'd married Daddy, how she'd felt and what it had been like. I felt as she had.

Nicole Turner lived in an area of town that reeked of 'bad'. I saw teenagers smoking pot and prostitutes loitering on street corners. I shivered and turned away. Sawyer put a comforting hand on my knee.

"We're looking for Nicole Turner," I said into an intercom. An impatient voice came back to me.

"This is she. What do you want?"

"Um, we're just friends of a friend," I lied. She buzzed, and the door opened. We climbed three flights of graffitied stairs and stopped in a front of a white door with peeling paint. I took Sawyer's hand and he squeezed it before I knocked.

"Who are you?" she demanded. I looked at her-she looked like she was the kind of person who'd always been pretty but not beautiful, who'd had looks that hadn't stayed. She was wearing an inappropriate outfit for someone in her late thirties, a cigarette was in her hand. I grimaced in disgust as she smiled at Sawyer. Something about her eyes was familiar.

"Callie," I stuttered.

"Well, Callie, what can I do for you?" she asked sarcastically.

"And I'm Sawyer Scott."

"Scott. As in Lucas?"

"Scott, as in Nathan, his brother. You knew him?"

"Rather well," she said, giggling. Gross. I'd deal with that later.

"And this is Jenny," I managed to say. Nikki's eyes immediately swiveled to her and took in her height, her hair and lastly her eyes. She turned back to me and pointed an accusing finger.

"You're her daughter."

"My mother's name is Peyton Jagielski," I said.

"Ah, so that's why they got married. So you're blondie's daughter."

"We both are," said Jenny.

"Peyton said you were her daughter?" asked Nikki in disbelief.

"Well yeah," said Jenny. I could almost feel her begin to grow tense.

"Bitch. Come on in," she said, and we followed her into her small apartment.

"Who are you?" I asked finally.

"Jenny's mother," she answered softly. My hand, still in Jenny's, was gripped. My knuckles turned white but I didn't notice. The world stopped turning and I turned a deaf ear.

Not my sister.

"That's not true," said Jenny. I could see her stare in disbelief at the woman who claimed to be her mother, and saw her recoil. Suddenly I placed Nikki's eyes.

They were also Jenny's.

"It is true," she insisted.

"How?"

"Jake wouldn't let me near you. Over a year after you were born, he married her, and the judge gave all rights to them because apparently they had a better home environment. So I wasn't allowed to visit and eventually I came here," she said.

"Why wouldn't Daddy let you see her?" I asked.

"Because he thought I'd hurt you, I guess," she said, leaking a tear. For an instant my heart went out to her.

"Why wouldn't my parents tell me about this?" asked Jenny. I could see doubt behind her eyes.

"I guess to avoid this," she said, laughing. "How's Jake doing?"

"They're great. He a pediatrician, we bought a bigger house after Lauren was born," said Jenny.

"Lauren?"

"My littlest sister," explained Jenny.

"So you, this one and Lauren. They've been pretty busy I guess," she said, slightly crudely. I felt Jenny stiffen. This was so incredibly surreal.

"My sister's name is Callie," reminded Jenny.

"Your half-sister. You don't look a thing like Jake," she said suggestively.

"He's my father," I countered angrily.

"No. But you know who you remind me of? His friend, the blonde one…" she began. The door burst open. Suddenly Daddy stood in it, looking taller than ever and more furious than I'd ever seen him. Uncle Nathan appeared behind him.

"Jake," said Nikki politely.

"What the hell, Nikki. Callie, Jenny, we're going," he ordered.

"Sawyer, what the hell are you doing here?" demanded Nathan angrily. Slowly, hesitantly I walked toward my father. When I reached him, he clamped a hand around my forearm and refused to look at me. Jenny remained still.

"Jennifer Jagielski…" he started angrily.

"You think I'm going with you? You've been lying to me my entire life," she spat out.

"And you think she tells the truth? Come one," he said.

"So she's not my mother?" she said, hopefully. Nikki laughed.

"Tell her Jake."

"As far as I'm concerned, Peyton is, if not biologically," he said. What did he mean, about Nikki lying? Jenny began to cry, and Nikki moved to comfort her.

"Jenny, come on," I begged. I moved toward me, but Daddy pulled me back to him.

"Like hell. I'm going to stay here, and I don't care if I ever see you again," she cried.

"Nikki, remember what the judge said? That you're not allowed in the same room as our child? That still holds," he said. He let go of my arm, and walked across the room. She screamed as he took her arm as he'd taken mine and pulled her back towards the door, though I knew it was not because he'd been hurting her.

Nikki yelled something inaudible as Nathan closed the door behind us. Daddy ushered me in front of him as he dragged a protesting Jenny down the hall, her screams giving away to sobs.

She sat between Sawyer and me in the backseat of Uncle Nathan's SUV, leaning on his shoulder and crying. As the silent ride progressed she gave into exhaustion and slept, as I tried my hardest to stop myself from thinking.

Both mothers were on the front looking, looking haggard. As I climbed out of the car on unsteady legs. Mom ran forward to embrace me and I let her-I was furious but entirely glad she was my mother. Jake carried the still sleeping Jenny in his arms.

"Come on, we're going home," said Haley in distress, meeting eyes with her son. He nodded and the three of them got in the car to drive down the block.

Lauren was in my room, questions in her eyes, as I walked in and Daddy set her on her bed. But neither of us said a word to her-I merely embraced her, tears escaping my eyes, before I fell into bed and sleep riddled with dreams.

The three of us walked down to breakfast together early the next morning. The five of us faced each other like two sides in a war. At last Daddy broke the silence.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

"How am I supposed to believe it?" spat out Jenny.

"Jenny, we only did this because…" began Mom gently.

"Because why? Tell me, because I'd really like to know. It'd be a good laugh. To protect me? From life? From love? From pain? That sure as hell worked out, didn't it?" she demanded.

"Don't blame your Mother, this was my choice," said Daddy.

"My Mother? I don't have a Mother! You won't let me near the one who gave birth to me, and the one who raised me is dead to me now. How could you do that?"

"Do you know what she's like?" asked Daddy. I gripped my sister's hands.

"NO! AND I DON'T CARE, BECAUSE I KNOW SHE'S GOT TO BE BETTER THAN THE TWO OF YOU FOR PARENTS, BECAUSE AT LEAST SHE'S NEVER LIED TO ME!" yelled Jenny.

"I'll bet she has. What did she tell you?" asked Daddy.

"That you wouldn't let me near her," said Jenny.

"Did she say why?"

"Because you groundlessly thought she'd hurt me."

"Groundlessly? Sweetie…" said Mom.

"No! I don't want to hear it! In fact, I don't care if I never hear you say anything again. I hate you! I'm never going to forgive you! You're the one that stopped my parents from being together. You've ruined my life!" Mom burst into tears-something she seldom did. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew I couldn't.

"Jenny I love you more than she ever could," she promised.

"Like hell," she said, storming out of the room. Lauren, after shooting them an evil look, fled with her. I stood my ground and shakily turned back to them.

"Why did you get married?"

"To put the trial in our favour," admitted Mom.

"Why was there a trial?"

"Because she was suing for full custody of your sister," said Dad.

"Why?"

"Because we wouldn't let her near her."

"Why?"

"Because she abandoned her when she was one month old," said Mom.

"Why couldn't you just tell us?" I asked, crying again.

"That was my decision. Your mother never fully agreed with me. It's just that Peyton has cared for Jenny from the time she was six months old to now. She got married at eighteen to keep her from Jenny. Some would say she gave her life away for her, when she was in love with somebody else. Peyton is Jenny's mother, whatever Nikki wants to believe. And neither of us love any of you more or less because of that," said Dad.

"I want to believe you," I sobbed. I truly did-I didn't want conflict to tear us apart.

"Then do! I love you, and I love your sisters," said Mom. I threw myself at her and she hugged me back.

"I love you too. Nikki was horrible. I wish I had never found out anything. How did you follow us?"

"You left your computer on, and after that it was pretty easy to track you down," admitted Daddy. A giggled interrupted my sobs.

"I hate that you lied to us," I said.

"Me too. We should never have done this. And I know it might seem like we've been lying to you about everything your entire life, but it's not the truth," said Mom.

"But there is one thing we haven't told you. Our marriage wasn't the only thing that put the trial in our favour," began Daddy. I sighed.

"What did?"

"Your Father and I had been arguing, so I went out in my car. It was about midnight. I went downtown, and I came to a bad area. Nikki was you know, soliciting. So I got out and told her about Jake and me and she reacted rather badly. She pulled a knife on me, Luke came along, some cops came along and she was arrested," finished Mom.

"Jenny's mom was a hooker?" Somehow this disturbed me more than most of the night's events.

"Yes. She may still be. Why didn't Jenny want to leave?"

"She just swallowed all the crap she said, like I did. It was creepy, like Nikki was seducing her or something," I said.

"She's never going to forgive me," sighed Mom.

"And it's more my fault then yours," said Dad, kissing the top of her curly head.

"They have the same eyes," I pointed out.

"I've noticed before," said Mom. Her voice sent a shiver down my spine as I turned to go.

Jenny was still crying when I got upstairs and Lauren was speaking to her in a low, comforting voice while she rubbed her shoulder.

"Hey," I said into the darkness.

"Where were you?" demanded Lauren in a whisper.

"They explained everything. It's better than you think," I comforted.

"I can't believe you're siding against me," said Jenny.

"What? I'm not," I said quickly. We were always on the same team against them.

"Doesn't look that way," she said. She was right-it didn't look that way.

"It doesn't matter, Jen," I said.

"Yes it does. Because if you're not with me, you're with them. And if you're with them, I don't particularly want to talk to you." The two of them stood and walked out of the room, presumably to go to Lauren's room. Leaving me completely in the dark in all senses of the word.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

"So now Jenny and Lauren aren't talking to me, Sawyer's being distant, Mom and Daddy are being guilty and everyone in town knows that something happened with the Jagielski girls," I said bitterly.

"Oh sweetie. I guess we all knew that something like this would happen someday," said Karen, my grandmother.

"It's just so hard. I can't side with my sisters and just fight with my parents, because I've almost come to terms with it. But if I'm on my parent's side, all hell breaks loose and I'm a traitor to my kind!" I said.

"So Jenny isn't even speaking to you?" asked Grandma in disbelief.

"Not a word. She's even been staying with Lauren. It's so weird, I'm always with Jenny. We've always been close, out entire lives. And now she hates me," I said.

"She doesn't," said Grandma immediately. I leaned against her and cried some more.

"You know Peyton thinks you're being very brave," she said soothingly into my white blonde hair.

"I wish I wasn't," I said, hiccupping.

"Callie, are you okay?" asked Lucas, entering. He pulled his ipod earphones out of his ear and looked at me in concern. Amidst my tears I blushed-he was very good looking.

"She and Jenny and Lauren found out about Nikki," explained Grandma.

"Ouch. How's Jenny?"

"I wouldn't know. By the way, did you sleep with her?" I asked.

"Once," he admitted.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!" exclaimed Karen. He left the room again.

"Sorry about that," I said apologetically.

"That's all right. He wasn't that good to girls in his high school days," she said. After a moment she seemed to regret her wording.

"Nikki insinuated that he was my father," I whispered.

"He's not. If Peyton knew that it was even possible, someone would know about it. And it doesn't show off hand, but you're just like your father. And you have his voice," she reminded me. Daddy could sing-and I could too, though none of my sisters could. I nodded.

"Yeah. She'd never do that, right?" I said.

"No. Peyton would never do that," she said in assurance.

My hands on the steering wheel led me to the court when my mind could not. Shakily I got out of the car, and ran to the river, squatting at it's edge. I gazed at the water, flowing past toward the ocean. Across it I could see downtown. I imagined my sister's partying together, not even noticing my absence. I pictured Sawyer kissing Jenny, of her stealing him away from him.

Though he wasn't mine.

I saw years ahead of me of Jenny never forgiving our parents, never backing down. I saw her never calling me her sister again. I saw the rest of our time that our two families would spend together, being left out by Jenny, Lauren, Sawyer and even Tess. I saw the only time Jenny and I spending together as cheerleader practice.

I walked slowly back to the cement court. I sank down and put my head on my knees. I felt as though I'd born and died here. This was where I spent the long summer days, where my Daddy had first taught me to throw a basketball. Where I'd spent hours upon hours with Sawyer, messing up his game. Would I, ever again?

I wiped away my tears as they began to fall. I laid back on the cement and stared into the sunny sky. I closed my eyes and allowed my pain to wash away. I prayed that no one would come and take me away from the emptiness.

In the end it was the ringing of my cell phone that awoke me and not a visitor. Few visited the river Court-it was in a sad state, and though Sawyer and I often frequented it, most often we were alone.

My hand shaking, I reached into my purse to answer it. Dad, of course. It was almost eleven.

"Please tell me you're still in Tree Hill," he said immediately.

"Yeah, I'm at the River Court. I'll come back home now," I promised. I stood up, dusted myself off and walked hesitantly toward my car.

I turned off the stereo as the Shins began to blast through it. I couldn't deal with that right now.

Daddy and Mom went to bed soon after I got home. I wandered into the backyard, light with small lanterns around the pool. When I climbed up a tree I could see the party of the evening, held for once at the Scott house. That would have been fun.

I eyed the pool water. Suddenly my body itched to be in it. Glancing around nervously, I stripped down to my bra and underwear, and with slightly reservation shed them as well and dove into the blue water.

Underwater I couldn't hear the loud music of the party. I couldn't think of my life without my best friends. I could hardly recall Jenny's harsh words, Sawyer's silence.

However, I could see the dark, masculine shape that appeared on the other side of the glass window as I climbed out.

So I behaved like any normal female-I shrieked, jumped and hid behind a bush until he disappeared.

_Author's note: I just saw the latest One Tree Hill. Wasn't it awesome? Anyway, I'm annoyed at them because I can't vote because my cell's a Fido, not a Cingular. So I'm having my own contest. I haven't figured out the details yet but I think I'll go back, find all the reviewers of 'Chasing Fate' put them in a hat and whoever I pull out will get to decide Brooke's fate. Within reason. Aren't you excited? All the reviewers as of Thursday, April 21st at midnight will be entered, and if you don't want to compete let me know._


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

His touch wasn't slow, romantic or loving. It was rapid, lustful, desiring. His lips quickly moved from my lips to my neck, and down my abdomen as we fell onto the bed. With practiced hands he undid my bra, and with hesitation I pulled it over my head.

"Callie…" he said, calling my name in desire.

"Sawyer!"

I spoke his name in annoyance as he burst through the door, completely interrupting my spontaneous hookup. He gave Eli a menacing look. He got off me quickly and stood up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked in annoyance, redoing my strap.

"It's my job, isn't it? By the way, you can go," said Sawyer to Eli. Sawyer looked down at him from his towering height of six foot two, and then turned to me, still sitting on the bed.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"I would have thought it would be fairly obvious," I said flippantly, crossing my legs.

"With him? He's a player!" cried out Sawyer. I rolled my eyes angrily.

"Yeah, and I'm not exactly a Miss Commitment. Though maybe I would be if you would give me enough room," I said.

"Just look out for you," he defended.

"Right. That's crap, and you know it. You haven't spoken to me in a week. You act as though I've dropped off the face of the Earth, yet you still think you have the right to older brother me? Piss off," I said, smoothing down my hair and stalking out of the room. I shook off the hand he put around my upper arm.

As I walked over to the table and poured myself another beer, I was distracted by a familiar voice. Jenny. As I turned to face it, I saw her and Rhys having a fight. Possibly another breakup fight. Half the party turned to see them curse at each other and bring up terrible aspects of one another. I winced as the time she'd lost her virginity was mentioned in a shout-I knew about it, but she didn't generally spread it around.

The intention of the fight became clear as he stalked off and she walked back into the party, head held high. For the first time in several days she actually met my eyes. I knew that some part of her wanted to talk to me about the things she shared with no one else. But before I could stop myself, I'd turned away from her.

Music was blasting in my ears as one of the basketball players, John Fenning, came to talk to me. I smiled a sideways smile at him as he approached.

"Callie," he said in greeting.

"John."

"You look great," he said. I smiled. I did look a little bit great-my mini skirt was new and I loved it, and my halter was just high enough to show off my pierced navel. It was an outfit just on the borderline for me, between being unsuitable and just a wee bit too trashy.

"Thanks. Original, by the way," I said. He laughed.

"Best I could come up with," he said. I flipped my curls over my shoulder.

"It could be worse, I guess," I said. I took another gulp of the drink in my hand, and the alcohol immediately went to my head. I felt Sawyer's eyes on my back as I allowed John to take in the image of me in my outfit.

John had leaned down before he'd appeared at my side. John nodded companionably at Sawyer-they were friends.

"Callie, can I talk to you?" he asked. I took my eyes off John's lips to give him an annoyed glance.

"What, again? The first time was just way too much fun," I said sarcastically.

"I deserve that. Please?" he entreated. Sighing, I nodded and he tucked my hand in his, as he had so many times before. He sighed himself as I pulled my hand away from his grasp.

"I'm sorry," he said as we entered a room and sat down on the bed.

"For what? Siding against me? Shutting me out for a week? Blocking me out for a lust crush that's never going to happen anyway? Stopping two hookups? For that matter, scaring away any boy that's ever showed an interest in me?" I asked.

"All of that. I'm just looking out for you Cal," he said.

"Well, you're looking too hard. And do you know what it was like? You didn't talk to me at all because you thought it would make Jenny like you for once. She's in love with Rhys," I said cruelly. He ignored all my comments about Jenny.

"You're right. I've been horrible. You deserve to be angry, but can't we go back?" he said.

"No! Sawyer, I'm tired. Tired of being your backup plan, your emergency date, your best pal when no one better is around. We have nothing in common, you're in love with my sister, and you've been treating me like crap recently anyway," I said.

"Callie, you're my best friend. You always have been, always will be," he promised.

"Even as a friend I'm too good for you," I said. As I stood up, his hand shot out to powerfully grip my wrist. I halted and glanced back at him over my shoulder.

"You've been my friend, a better friend than anyone else has been, for fifteen years. You don't mean that," he said.

"I do. We're through, BJ," I said, his nickname slipping out before I could stop it. He released my wrist as his face fell and I ran from him.

The next morning Jenny and Lauren had both already left in the car when I awoke, and my parents were nowhere to be seen. I glanced at my watch and noticed I was already missing first period.

By the time I'd washed and messed with my hair enough to make it presentable, first period was over and I'd be late for second without my car. I ran out of the house, applying clear lip gloss as I did so.

I stopped suddenly as I caught sight of a familiar car-a black one that resembled an SUV, only littler. And the tall, dark haired boy that was leaning against it, clad in his blue jeans and varsity jacket. I shot him a scathing look and prepared to walk past him.

"Come one, just take a drive. We're already late and I need to make it up to you," he said.

"And you think a drive in your car is enough?" I asked.

"It's a start," he admitted.

"I don't need your car."

"How else are you going to get there?"

"The bus?" I suggested.

"Neither of us have taken public transit in six months. Please Squirt?" he begged.

"Wow. How much you must have fallen that I'm annoyed that you were so presumptuous as to use a degrading nickname," I shot out, running past him.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Jenny refused to look at me, and Sawyer couldn't tear his eyes away. Jenny lead the cheers perfectly, as she'd always done, and Sawyer lost his team the first game of the season.

I walked over to Uncle Nathan after the court was half clear from spectators and participants.

"That was too bad," I remarked. He glanced sideways at me.

"My best player was distracted for some reason," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Jenny," I supplied quickly. Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Sure. You look just like your mother," he said, glancing at my uniform.

"Yeah. Less so than Lauren though. Do you think I look at all like my Dad?" I asked anxiously.

"A little, I guess. How's Jenny coping?"

"I wouldn't know, she's not talking to me or our parents. She calls mom Peyton behind her back," I said sadly.

"See, this is exactly what they've been trying to avoid for seventeen years. Guess that kind of fell through," he said.

"Oh, completely. I gotta go," I said, walking away as John came to join me.

I wore jeans and a more demure shirt at the party at the West house. It's less packed than usual, though I didn't know why. I spotted Sawyer and Jenny in the crowd, though not together. I quickly placed myself among a group of cheerleader friends, giving coy glances to John.

We weren't together, not exactly. If I'd heard of him doing things with other girls, I wouldn't have cared less. When he kissed me, I felt nothing but his lips. But I could tell by Sawyer's face that it drove him crazy, to not be able to protect me or control my life in the least.

Not like I missed him, or anything.

After a quarter hour with my friends, John came and whispered in my ear and I followed him to a spare bedroom. As he opened the door for me, I stopped, struck dumb at the sight that met my eyes.

Jenny was forcefully kissing Sawyer. His six pack was revealed and her shirt was off. They were kissing so hard they gave the impression of devouring one another. My eyes flashed to her, calculating. She loved Rhys. Despite his faults, really she did. She'd broken up with him less than a week previously. She felt nothing whatsoever for Sawyer Scott. Was she doing what I thought she was doing? Was she being that evil?

They didn't notice as I pulled John with me back through the door. I didn't reveal my thoughts to him as we found a room and began to heavily make out, stopping just shy of losing my virginity. He drove me home at eleven and kissed me gently on the lips in a way that showed that he cared a lot more than I did.

Lauren gave me a blank stare as I walked past where she was reading in the family room. I stopped and entered through the door. She rolled her eyes.

"Come one, Lala. This is insane, it's not your battle or mine," I reminded her, using her baby name.

"Yeah, but I can't just back down," she reminded me.

"Sure you can! Sweetie I've missed you. I can't stay all by myself any more. It's lonely," I admitted.

"I've missed you too," she said tearfully. I leaned forward and we embraced.

"Jenny and Sawyer made out tonight," I revealed. Her eyes grew wide. Briefly I recalled how crazy she'd been about him three weeks previously.

"But she likes Rhys," she said in confusion.

"Yeah, I know. I'm really afraid that she just did it to get back at him, and that's gonna break his heart," I said sadly. She nodded as Jenny glided past. I stood up to quickly follow her.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, breaking the two week long silence.

"What?"

"You made out with Sawyer Scott! You don't even like him!" I reminded her.

"Oh, come on. Like you give a damn about John Fenning," she said.

"That's different, John doesn't give a damn about me either. He hasn't been in love with me since he was eleven. His heart doesn't break every time I get back with a boy," I said. She gaped.

"Sawyer actually likes me?"

"Yes!"

"Oh God. I did it to get back. He's going to be so hurt," she said.

"Yeah, he will. And it's your fault. I can't believe you'd do that to someone you care about," I said. She glanced quizzically at me.

"Oh my God," she said at last.

"What?"

"You're in love with him," she accused.

"With who, Sawyer?" I asked.

"Yes, of course! Oh, you make so much sense to me now! You're completely in love with Sawyer Scott!" she said gleefully.

"No, Jenny, I'm not," I said.

"You are! You totally are! Oh, you have to tell him! Our parents are going to love it! You're going to get married freakish young too, right?" she asked excitedly.

"Jenny, I'm not in love with Sawyer. I'm not in love with anybody," I promised.

"Liar."

"I'm not lying," I whispered.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

"So she was a prostitute?" I heard Jenny's voice say with recognition through the closed door.

"Yeah. And there was drug problems as well," admitted Daddy.

"That's crazy. How am I not more messed up than I already am?"

"Because Nikki isn't your mother, sweetie. Peyton is. Luckily, a month of Nikki influence has left you no worse for wear," he said.

"Ten months," she reminded him.

"I've never been sorry for a second that you were born," said Daddy.

"Thank you," I heard her whisper.

"So are you going to freeze them out forever?" he asked gently.

"No. But that's for their benefit as well, seeing as they're **right outside the door**," said Jenny with emphasis. I looked sideways at my mother and blushed. An instant later, I'd reached out to hug her. Would Jenny actually forgive her? The two of us hadn't spoken since my confrontation and her accusation three days previously.

Mom slowly turned the doorknob to enter the room but I ran off-I didn't want to reconcile with my sister in front of my parents. Instead I found Lauren, who demanded to know all the details of my relationship with John, and then guiltily admitted to making out with Tess' boyfriend Jason.

The next morning was mirrored in all the others. However, this time I expected Jenny had been plotting, since she and Lauren left in the car a half hour earlier than we usually all left together.

But their plans went awry. As I stepped outside that morning, stuffing a textbook into my bag, there were two cars waiting for me. One was the familiar miniature SUV. The other pulled up precisely as I stepped out of the house. It was a car rapidly becoming more familiar-a black sports car, with the roof down. I smiled flirtatiously at the boy inside of it.

John climbed out to greet me as Sawyer leaned against his car, staring between the two of us.

Jenny, I thought. She'd called Sawyer to arrange him to come. She hadn't planned on my boyfriend (type thing) on showing up.

John's glance at Sawyer was friendly as he reached me and lightly kissed my lips. He took my book bag, and put his hand on my back to lead me to the car.

"Callie!" cried out Sawyer as we walked past him. I turned to face him, flicking my hair away from my face.

"What?" I asked. John went to manly hug him as our eyes bored into one another.

"Do you want a ride?" he asked desperately. John raised his eyebrows at him.

"Don't worry, I've got my girl covered," he responded. Sawyer's glance flicked over to him.

"Your girl?" asked Sawyer. I winced in anticipation.

"Sure as hell not yours," I quipped. John laughed.

"What have you guys been going out for, three days?" he asked.

"Like a week," responded John in ignorance of Sawyer's scorn.

"Well then! Who am I to judge?"

"You got a problem?" asked John, dropping my bag into his car. I crossed my arms in annoyance.

"Not with you in particular. Callie, come on. I've known you since I was a week old. My sister's middle name is your mother's, I'm named after her in full. Who's closer than us?" he asked.

"Hmm, people who don't make out with their friend's sisters and betray them for said sister?" I suggested innocently. I swung an arm around John's neck and kissed him deeply.

"I know what you're doing," he said calmly. I flushed: I knew that I was doing as well.

"And what's that?" asked John suspiciously, pulling his lips away from mine.

"You know it drives me crazy not to be in your life, so you're torturing me with him. Well, congratulations, it's working. Just don't get in too deep," he advised John. I sent him a furious glare, annoyed that he could read me.

John lunged at him. Sawyer dodged his fist, and retaliated with a punch of his own, right to his face. John ignored the injury and pushed Sawyer against the car. They fought for another few seconds while I suddenly shrieked and ran toward them, pulling John away as well as I could. It was more my touch than my force that made him pull away from Sawyer. I looked up at him-his eye was already beginning to swell, and he had a noticeable tear in his shirt. I sent Sawyer another dirty look.

"I didn't plan for that," he promised. My hand betrayed me for a second, reaching out to him in desire of our old, easy ways. My mind took control, and I pulled back.

"Like hell."

"Please just take a ride. Don't you want things the way they were?"

_Author's note: Okay, time is almost up for the contest so review to enter and I'll put your name in the hat. Thanks again for the reviews, someone asked if Sawyer was named after Peyton and this answers it, I hope._


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

"I never knew he was such an ass. Why would he say stuff like that? He practically called you a slut," said John in annoyance.

"I think you were sweet for trying to defend me," I said cautiously.

"Anytime. I really like you, Callie," he said. I blushed and glanced out the window.

"Thank you," I said as sweetly as I could muster.

With these words, John seemed to decide that our coupledom was secured so we walked hand in hand into the building. Sawyer hadn't yet arrived, otherwise I'd have loved to flaunt it in his nose.

Though Jenny was there, talking at her locker with one of our cheerleader friends. I dropped his hand as I saw her, and ran to her in anger.

"You bitch!" I said accusingly.

"What?" she said innocently.

"You set me up! You knew that I'd have to ride with Sawyer if I didn't ride with you, so you got him to come! I'm not in love with Sawyer Scott, get it through your head!" I demanded. She rolled her eyes. And was it my imagination, or did the entire hallway stop and listen to our conversation in apparent surprise?

"Liar. Why else would you spend every waking moment with him? Every moment with him since you were three years old? Why else would you care if he made out with me?" she asked calmly.

"Because we're friends! And he's in love with you, remember? Like the boys on the basketball team, I'm the same to him. And I couldn't care less if he made out with you, I just care that he abandoned me for having a different point of view from you and him," I protested.

"And you'll punish him forever for that?" she asked.

"For a while longer. And anyway, this isn't your business. This is between him and me," I reminded her.

"And John Fenning, apparently. What is it with you two?" she asked curiously.

"Not much. He thinks he's my boyfriend but he's not, I wouldn't care if he made out with someone else," I said honestly.

"Are you making out with anyone else?"

"Please. If I did anything with Sawyer Scott it would be broadcasted on the six o'clock news," I reminded her.

"Speaking of which," said a familiar voice from behind me. I sighed.

"I wasn't talking to you before, but now you expect me to?" I asked.

"Why not?"

"Because you punched out my…" I faltered, and he grasped my shoulders and turned me to face him. My eyes met his, so full of pain. "My boyfriend! You tried to kick his ass!"

"And I did, though as I recall he threw the first punch. I was just defending myself. Though really it was hardly necessary," he said cockily.

"_I'm_ going to kick your ass," I declared. The listeners laughed.

"Don't laugh, she's caused some pain in her own time. Callie I'm sorry," he said.

"Piss off," I retaliated, dragging Jenny down the hall with me.

Lauren was on the floor above, talking with some of her friends. Her eyes lit up when she saw us, and she ran over.

"Is it true?" she asked eagerly.

"What, about John getting beaten up by Sawyer? Yeah, completely," responded Jenny.

"People are beginning to say you made out with Sawyer," she said.

"I didn't. And wouldn't that kind of bother you?" I asked in surprise.

"Not really. I'm way over him," she said easily.

"That's incredible. I could never abandon a crush like that so easily," I said. They laughed.

"Really. When have you had a longstanding anything, besides Sawyer?" asked Jenny.

"Sawyer and I have nothing, we never will. And shut up," I advised.

"One problem though, if he really ever did like me he managed to drop that pretty quick to fall in love with you," said Jenny thoughtfully.

"Can we please, please, talk about anything else in the world?"

We didn't.

I didn't have to come into further contact with any of them until practice that afternoon. Jenny didn't teach us anything new, we just practiced our old routines. I realized by the end of the practice that it had been low-key for a reason-she wanted to observe Sawyer and I, and she didn't want teaching to get in the way of this.

He caught up with me as Jenny and I put away our equipment in the storage cupboard. She conveniently had to go to the bathroom, leaving us alone.

"Callie I'm sorry," he said.

"God, why can't you just leave me alone?" I asked crossly.

"Because you're too good of a friend to me," he said.

"I was, not I am," I corrected.

"You're still my friend, even if I'm not yours," he said. My mouth twitched, I had to pinch my cheeks from the inside to keep them from smiling.

"People keep talking about us," I said as I turned to leave.

"Yeah, I keep getting asked about you. Your boyfriend keeps giving me threatening looks," he said, laughing.

"He's not my boyfriend," I said. Oops.

"Then what is he?"

"He's just there. We make out, I'm not even sure if we're exclusive. By the way, why am I talking to you?" I asked.

"Because you're cutting me some slack?" he said. Hopefully?

"In your effing dreams," I said, leaving the closet.

I managed to track Jenny down before she left, and was therefore able to get a ride home in our car. Lauren had already left, having presumably walked to our house or the Scott's.

Daddy wasn't home, but Mom was. She was painting the main floor bathroom.

"Hi Callie, Jenny," she said distractedly.

"Hey Mom," I said. Jenny glanced at her.

"Peyton," she said, sweeping upstairs. Mom abandoned her paintbrush and sat down dejectedly.

"She's going to forgive you," I said comfortingly, putting a hand on her knee.

"She said she has forgiven me, but she hasn't," she said.

"Jenny's not going to hate you forever."

"Part of me tells me that, but she's done a damn good job so far. I mean it's been weeks since she's actually talked to me, and she's fine with your father," she said.

"Not really. She just pretends to be to get to your nerves," I confided.

"She tell you that?"

"No, it's just fairly obvious to me. How was your day?"

"Oh, good. Haley came over and then we went out for lunch. Sawyer and Tess are freezing her out too," she said. I nodded, doing my best to pretend that I knew that already. "Is Sawyer still not talking to you?"

"No, he's trying to get me to talk to him. It's really weird," I said.

"He's what, pursuing you?" she asked. This with a searching look.

"Yeah, he really wants to go back to being _friends," _ I said with emphasis.

"Sure. Squirt, I'm going swimming. You coming?" she asked, standing. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go change," I said. After we had we went outside to the pool, and more than once I glanced inside and remembered the face I'd seen the last time.

_Author's note:_ _I know I've been focusing primarily on one issue perhaps more than I do normally, so get ready for **someone** to appear again. And I think this is going to be a lot longer than 'Early for Two' so be prepared for that._

_And the contest! So the winner will email me (not review. If you review with your response, you are disqualified). So they'll email me with Brooke's ending, and I'll write it and add it into the story somewhere in the near future._

_And without further ado the winner is……… Nathen'sraven! Congratulations!_

_Oh, and another special treat. I picked another name out of the hat, and that name will get to choose one character to reappear from the past. Whoever you want who isn't yet in this story._

_And the winner is…… dramaaddict8807!_

_These winners will email me with their responses and I'll write them out as soon as I can. Congratulations again._


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

"So are you ever going to forgive her?" I asked that night as I sat between my sisters, braiding Lauren's hair and having mine braided.

"I have," said Jenny nonchalantly.

"You haven't. You called her Peyton today," I reminded her.

"Well she isn't my mother."

"She is! She's totally your mother," I said defensively. Lauren yelped and I realized I'd been gripping her hair anxiously.

"She's my stepmother," said Jenny. I winced, and saw Lauren stiffen.

"No, she's your mother. She's raised you since you were six months old, she got married to keep you away from Jenny," I recited.

"As far as I can tell, this was Daddy's choice that Mom never fully went behind but agreed with because it was so much easier or something. So it's completely cruel of you to torture her instead of him. You're good with him. Or even if you're pretending to be, it's driving mom crazy," I stated.

"You're a spy, aren't you?" she asked suspiciously. I made a noise of frustration.

"I'm just trying to help!" I cried.

"Don't," she advised.

"Callie's right. This isn't Mom's fault," said Lauren calmly.

"How the hell do you guys off advising me on something like this?" asked Jenny. I twisted around to face her.

"Well, the fact that I'm conceivably the child of Lucas Scott makes me something you can sympathize with, no?" I said.

"You're Daddy's. It's obvious," said Jenny dismissively.

"Up until a month ago we all thought you were Mom's. We even thought you looked like her. A month ago, the idea of Lucas being my father was just as inconceivable as you being someone other than Mom's," I said coolly.

"Didn't Mom say specifically that you were Daddy's?" said Lauren.

"He was right there. What else would she say?"

"Good point. You know if you were Lucas', the two of you wouldn't be sisters?" asked Lauren. My eyes met Jenny's brown ones. It had occurred to me. I reached out to hug my sister.

"You look a lot like both of them," I said, glancing into the mirror. The curliness of my hair suggested my Mother, though hers was curlier, in ringlets while mine borderlined on wavy. And she was a fake blonde, though my almost white blonde hair was natural. And there was my short stature, like neither of our parents. My green eyes were a mystery to all, my heart shaped face was remotely like my grandmother's. I was naturally thin like Mom, but everything else made me look different from everyone. If someone were to see us together they'd have thought that I was the one who wasn't related, not Jenny.

Maybe because Jenny looked so very much like Daddy. Or because Lauren looked exactly like Mom, except with Daddy's brown eyes. These thoughts unsettled me late at night when I thought of Lucas Scott, and what it would make Sawyer to me.

Later I left the room to go brush my teeth, and walked past my parent's room on the way back. As I heard my name, I stopped to listen.

"You know, they're both past the age you had her at," remarked Mom through the door.

"Yeah, it occurs to me pretty often," admitted Dad.

"They're good kids," said Mom sleepily.

"I can't believe you'd say that about Jen right now," he said.

"Yeah, well, I have to be accepting. This is a big deal," she said.

"Well you know, they may be past my year, but not past the first time you had one," he said, laughing. I heard her swat him.

"Yeah well, your fault entirely," she said. I winced-they were talking about me.

"Oh, really? I still blame the white prom dress," he said teasingly.

"Oh yeah? Otherwise we wouldn't have her?" asked Mom jokingly. Okay, ew.

"Maybe not. But there is one thing besides the dress…"

"Oh, and what's that?" she asked provocatively.

"The girl inside of it," he said. She giggled, and I ran away as I realized what they were up to.

"What's going on with you and Rhys?" I asked Jenny later as we lay in bed, waiting for sleep.

"Nothing. We'll get back together soon," she said sleepily.

"He doesn't mind that you made out with Sawyer?"

"No, one of us always strays just after we break up. If we didn't, we couldn't be entirely sure that both of us wanted to get back together," she said.

"Interesting. You know I'd scoff you for having such a… sporadic relationship, but mine are no better," I admitted.

"Oh, they will be," she said. This I chose to ignore.

"Apparently I was conceived on prom night," I said. A giggled escaped her throat, and I lobbed a teddy bear at her.

"I'm sorry, but that's hilarious. And so cliché. But at least they were already married," she said, with only slightly detectable remorse.

"You're lucky, you know, that Nikki ran away and Mom raised you instead. Growing up with her would have messed you up," I commented.

"Maybe if Nikki hadn't run away, and she'd grown up with me, she wouldn't have turned to prostitution," said Jenny.

"I know it's hypocritical, but we can't wonder about what ifs. The fact is that she did become a druggy, and a prostitute, and a bitch," I said.

"But she's my mother," she protested.

"No, she was. Now she's just there. Why do you need her?"

"Because Mom isn't being my Mom, and I need one," she said. In the moonlight I could see a tear escape down her cheek and I transferred from my bed to hers to comfort her.

Long after she'd fallen asleep, I lay awake. I still didn't truly know what she was thinking. I didn't even know what I was thinking. What would I think, were I in her shoes? If Lucas turned out to be my birth father, would I call him Dad? Would I ignore him, for never coming clean with the truth? How would I regard my own father, and Jenny when she wasn't a real relation? Though real relation doesn't mean much in my world. I called my parent's best friends my Aunts and Uncles, Karen my Grandmother, Sawyer my brother.

As I thought of this my thoughts went to Brooke, and how after I'd heard about her home and life, my life had suddenly become dramatic and I'd ceased to think about her and how miserable she was underneath her ideal life. That had seemed like such a huge deal to me once, and I hadn't thought about it in weeks.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

I sat in front of my mirror, brushing my long dark hair. It had hardly changed since high school, when Peyton had stopped dying hers and had let it fade back to brown.

I glanced back at the mirror. Back in high school, my mirror had been crowded with pictures of me and my circle of friends-Nathan, Lucas, Jake and Peyton. Pictures of cheerleading, a picture of Peyton's wedding.

Now my mirror had a gold frame. My dressing table was made of marble and was crowded with designer perfume and makeup, expensive, beautiful jewelry. The face that looked back at me still looked young, was still beautiful. It screamed 'upper class mother', opposed to 'party girl'. My conversation had dropped it's inappropriate edge slowly through the years, I'd stopped mentioning Mouth and Lucas.

Especially to Tonio. I never dared mention another man to him.

I smiled in spite of myself as I heard a giggle from somewhere in the house. Kylie. She was perfect-beautiful, intelligent, playful. She reminded me of myself.

Or of who I used to be.

He was different with her than he was with me. Indulgent. He bought us both anything we wanted, but he let her do anything she wanted. He spoiled her shamelessly. He spoiled me too.

But she was happy.

Was it Lucas I wanted, or was it Mouth? Did I love my husband, in spite of his faults, or was I merely clinging to expectations?

Luke and Mouth were so different, yet so the same. And so completely different from Tonio. They'd never hit me. They'd never tell me what to do, even if they did I wouldn't do it. Somewhere along the way my husband had made me believe that he knew my mind better than myself.

I recalled how heartily my parents had approved of my marriage. I was being my mother all over again-Daddy had been fifteen years older, and wealthy even then. Their approval should have been a warning sign to me. Nothing they'd ever wanted for me had ever made me happy. They'd always been against Mouth and Lucas.

Which one did I want?

My thoughts drifted to Peyton and Jake. They'd had a hard time lately. Jenny had become aware of their birth mother and had shut Peyton away. Callie had uncovered all the secrets of their past. She suspected that Lucas was her father. She was facing falling in love with her best friend.

Callie also reminded me of me. She was so beautiful, so cheerful, so terrible at loving. She was a party girl, a hookup girl. Peyton worried about her never getting attached to boys.

What she didn't realize was how very attached Sawyer Scott and Callie Jagielski were. For years I'd seen glances, I'd detected flirtation behind their banter. Noticed Sawyer believing he loved Jenny because she was so very easy to love.

Shuddering, I slipped the button up cardigan I wore over my shoulder, looking at the ugly bruise on it. It was healing nicely. Sometimes I thought he did these things strategically, hitting me in places he didn't want other people to see. Only him.

I slipped it back over my shoulder as the door opened and I heard him approach. I saw his hands in the mirror before his body. They held a gold chain with a diamond pendant over my white throat. I touched the gem-he was good at buying jewelry.

I met his eyes in the mirror.

"How's Kylie?" I asked.

"She's fine. Sleeping now," he said suggestively. He leaned down and kissed my neck, and I allowed him to lead me to the bed.

I was still as he "made love to me". His words, not mine. I'd never used the phrase, except with Mouth. As he finished, I saw his eyes skate over the bruise on my shoulder. His conscience never bothered him.

He was faithful to me, and I to him. Often I thought about going after I wanted-finding someone who wasn't twenty years older than me, as sexy as Tonio was sometimes. Someone who'd love me for me, who'd worship me without possessing me. Was it so much to ask?

I wrapped myself in the silk bed sheet, sitting up as he bustled around the room.

"What are you going to do today?" he asked. He said it absently, but I knew he really needed to know. I shrugged, to torture him.

"Oh, I don't know. I figured I'd go see one of my old friends-Lucas, maybe," I said lightly. He turned to me, and I saw his face tighten.

"With Peyton?"

"Maybe," I said, backing down. He nodded.

"Keep your phone with you," he advised. I scoffed.

"I'm not your daughter," I reminded him.

"No, you're my wife. And as such, do I not have the right to worry?" he asked.

He left. Ten years we'd been married, and still he didn't know me. He claimed to love me, yet knew me as well as the postman did. Mouth and I had known everything about each other. Lucas had grown to understand me like no one else. Even Felix could relate and understand me like few could.

When he'd asked me to marry him, I'd believed he could make me happy. He had been so handsome, so adoring. The diamond he'd presented me with had equaled all my dreams, as had my wedding. My wedding dress was the most spectacular thing I'd seen outside of a catalog. I'd been happy to become more like Peyton, in hopes of restoring our friendship back to its old ways. I'd only been slightly crestfallen when she'd arrived for my wedding to be my bridesmaid with Haley, their five collective kids and husbands in tow. I could never have three kids.

Two had been my dream number. And I would have, as well, had I not lost the first one just before my wedding. It had been a night of contemplation-despite my remorse at my lost, I contemplated leaving him. I didn't have to anymore. He couldn't do anything to me, like cut me off or take my children from me. He could protest, he could hit, but I could emerge nothing the worse for wear.

Sometimes I thought that I should have. But if I had, I never would have Kylie, my daughter. And I needed her. It was for her that I stayed in this marriage that made me so miserable.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

I was back on the basketball court, alone again.

One of my mix tapes played from the car. My favourite songs played at random through the open window of my car. I was attempting to get a free throw in the net, and failing miserably.

Jenny was with her boyfriend in our bedroom, forcing me to leave it. Lauren was at the mall with her friends. My parents and Nathan and Haley were doing some older couples thing, extremely unaware of Jenny's plan for the day. My friends were most likely at someone's house, listening to music and gossiping.

When had I let my life become so small?

Aunt Haley's song came on through the window, and I began to sing along to it, her beautiful voice affecting me as it always did.

The ball was released from the tips of my fingers. It soared through the air in a high arc. It made a tiny detour on the rim, and swished through the chain net. My eyes stayed on the net long after the ball went through, my ears on the music, my senses dulled.

I didn't notice when the ball didn't bounce, didn't notice the sound of an engine stopping, heavy footsteps approaching me. It was his voice that I noticed-

"_Laughing with your pretty mouth," _he sang along to the song. I stared at him for a moment before I responded.

"_Laughing with your pretty mouth."_

_"Laughing with your broken heart," _he sang. I'd known him my entire life and never heard him sing.

"_Laughing with your broken heart," _I responded. I took a step toward him, and he toward me.

"_Laughing with your lover's song."_

_"Laughing with your lovers song," _I sang back. I never sang in front of anybody, even him.

"_In a lullaby." _We sang together. His voice hit exactly the male voice, Chris, while mine sang Aunt Haley's. The CD in the background accompanied us. He took another step toward me.

"_Where do you go when you're lonely,_

_Where do you go when you're blue?_

_Where do you go when you're lonely I'll follow you_

_When the stars go blue," _we sang, my voice ever so slightly behind his. We repeated:

"_Where do you go when you're lonely,_

_Where do you go when you're blue?_

_Where do you go when you're lonely I'll follow you…_

_When the stars go blue._

_When the stars go blue._

_When the stars go blue._

_Where do you go when you're lonely?_

_Where do you go when the stars go… blue," _we finished. I stared into his blue eyes, suddenly aware of how much they were looking back at me. Silently we forgave each other, and he took another step. Slowly I held my hands out to him, and he took two running steps toward me. He reached me, was less than half a foot away, with only the basketball in his arms between us. He looked down at it and threw it in a long, graceful shot into the river, where it bounced once and then floated towards the beach.

He took my hands in his, and I took a step toward him. Slowly, carefully, he wrapped his strong arms around me until I was pressed up against him, breathing in his scent. I closed my eyes. I'd missed him. He was my best friend. His lips found my hair. His leather basketball jacket wasn't zipped up, he was wearing a gray t-shirt. Through it, I could feel his hard stomach muscles. I recognize the shirt-I'd bought it for him.

I'd never trusted him to supply his own wardrobe.

"I can't live without you," he said finally.

"I never could," I said.

We were silent again for a time. Now there was no space between us. His arms were about my neck, mine curled onto his shoulders.

"Are you in love with my sister?" I asked finally.

"No," he said simply. Did he mean what I thought? Did I want him to?

"Don't leave me alone again," I said.

"As if I could! I've been persistently bugging you ever since Jenny and I kissed," he said.

"Yeah. And I'd have freaked if you had stopped," I admitted.

"I know. I know you better than you think," he said.

We were silent again. Silence worked for us. We'd known each other for so long that our silence had become comfortable. This was the problem with the boys I knew-I was too used to the comfortable silence, and when I was with a boy who wasn't Sawyer, I felt the need to talk constantly. This led to me having relations where speech wasn't necessary.

My thoughts flicked to John. I felt as though I was his girlfriend, but he wasn't my boyfriend. I couldn't care less about him, and he seemed to be falling in love with me. Or with the thought of me. He'd been furious when he'd discovered I'd hooked up with David Miller at a party, but I wouldn't have minded if he disappeared forever.

As I glanced back at Sawyer, these thoughts flew from my head. He was so different. The best friend I'd ever had. Including Jenny, who sometimes took me for granted.

I wondered if we'd be such good friends without our parent's influence. When we were younger, Sawyer and his family had moved between here and Charlotte to accommodate Nathan's basketball schedule. When he was around, we'd seen each other every day. When he wasn't, we'd email and talked on the phone. When we were babies, our parents had taken us to the park almost daily so the five of us could play together. They'd all needed each other. Mom and Haley had been eighteen when they'd had Sawyer and me respectively.

Or were we friends because of our age difference? Our due dates had been two weeks apart. He'd been born exactly on his, February 15th. My mother had had a difficult pregnancy, and she'd had a cesarean on the 22nd, exactly a week after Sawyer's birth. We'd had joint birthday parties, christenings (with our parents as each others godparents). We'd passed all the milestones together. Our mother had bragged to each other about our progress. He'd learned to walk before me, I to talk before him. There had never been a time in which he hadn't been noticeably larger than me. Especially now-he stood at almost a whole foot taller than me.

I looked up to meet his eyes again. They were staring down at me. He had such nice eyes. He had such nice everything.

He leaned down in slow motion. I tensed up, preparing for what was to come. As he came closer and almost made contact, I swished my head around and refused to look at him.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

But he knew me better. As I turned away, his lips brushed against my hair. His hand came to my chin, and he forcefully turned my face to his. He knew what he wanted, knew what I needed. He knew that even if I was scared, it didn't matter.

His lips crashed against mine in repressed longing. His touched was caressing, tender, possessive. As I opened my mouth, he entered and explored the crevices of my mouth. His hands powerfully gripped my back, and neither of us could have pulled away.

I was wishing that he was my first kiss, because his meant so much more to me than any other kiss I'd experienced. I wish I'd saved my lips for him, so there would be no chance of ever forgetting his touch. Though it didn't seem likely.

His lips slid from my mouth to my neck, covering it in kisses. I gasped as he made me feel things I'd never felt before. His lips went back to my mouth, and we kissed again. Kissing had never, ever been like this. Nothing had ever been like this.

Timidly I let my hands explore his back, and wind through his dark hair. One of my hand ran over his rippling stomach muscles, so hard from his basketball training. John's hadn't been nearly as impressive.

Suddenly I broke away from him, panting roughly. His eyes opened lazily and met mine. He smiled down at me.

"We can't do this," I said.

"What?"

"We can't. We've been friends for too long," I said, my practical side taking over my desire of him.

"Callie, were you here just now? Did you feel that kiss? How did it make you feel?" he asked. He put one arm around my waist and the other on my heart.

"It's wrong. We can't do this," I said.

"We have to do this. I've never felt those things before. I've never felt for anyone what I feel for you right now. I think I've been in love with you my entire life."

"No. You're a player, I'm a slut. Neither of us can handle a relationship. I can't just have this with you. I won't lose you," I swore.

"You won't. I'll be yours forever," he promised.

"I've always been yours," I said, my heart speaking ahead of my mine. He kissed me lightly again.

"You've got to stop running from this. I need to be with you. I want to do things with you that I've never done before," he said.

"Sawyer, I'm a virgin. And you're most assuredly not," I pointed out.

"No. I want to spend real time with you. I can be exclusive with you. And if you want to wait, we'll wait. That isn't all I want," he promised.

"What, you don't think I'm desirable?" I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Callie, I want all that. You know this, but if you're not ready I'd never forgive myself. Having you here with me is enough."

"Your parents said these things to each other. Your mom ran away for a year, and she was a pregnant teenager," I pointed out.

"Yet they're one of the happiest couples I know. Along with your parents, also married teenagers. It doesn't always have to work out badly," he said.

"But it usually does."

"It doesn't have to," he said softly. I jerked away slightly, but he pulled me back into him. I could feel him smell my scented hair.

"Wait, are you asking me to marry you?" I asked in alarm.

"No, I'm merely suggesting that I don't think I can ever be with anyone else," he said.

"You've never been with me."

"Callie Jagielski, I've been with you my entire life," he said. He leaned down to kiss me again, and I allowed him to.

An hour later we left in our cars. He trailed me all the way home, and as I burst in through my front door I was entirely drained of energy.

Late at night I couldn't sleep. I got up to examine myself in the mirror. I felt so different, as though I'd been born again. How could I still look the same? How could the world still be the same?

I pushed down my shirt to examine the telltale reddish mark on my neck. I'd never received such a mark. I'd have to cover it up, to hide the truth from Jenny.

I wrapped my dressing gown around myself and padded downstairs as a heavy knock sounded on the front door. My parents joined me there, deprived of sleep. I rested against Daddy as Mom moved to answer the front door.

Lucas Scott stood in our doorway, leaning against the frame. I saw Mom cock her head at him, surprised that he'd turned up at one in the morning.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" asked Dad.

"I have something I have to say," he said. Mom glanced backwards at me, and I realized in an agonizing moment that he was going to declare his feelings for her.

"Luke, don't," she begged.

"No, it's not that. It's just that it's um… possible that Callie's my child," he admitted.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"You know next time you make out with my grandson, it might be advisable to do it in a more secluded location," said a voice from behind me. I spun around on the park bench. A man who looked to be in his early fifties approached, smirking widely.

"Who are you?" I asked wearily.

"None too bright, I'm guessing. Dan Scott, Callie Jagielski. Or shall I say Callie Scott?"

"Quit it with the mind games," I advised, rolling my eyes as he came to sit beside me. I knew all about Dan Scott, even though Sawyer and Nathan never mentioned him.

"But you don't deny the Scott?" he asked.

"My father's name is Jake Jagielski," I said, slowly and clearly.

"Not what my son tells me," he said.

"Well, your son is mistaken. And he should have paid more attention in sex-ed class. And where the hell do you come off, advising me on how to live my life?"

"It's simple. Sawyer has the capabilities to go where Nathan never touched. And whether you're a Jagielski girl or a Scott girl, it doesn't matter. Both have the reputation of unfortunate pregnancies," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Nathan played in the pros. You never could."

"That's true. Nathan was good. But he could have been a great without Haley and Sawyer. If Sawyer never has a Haley or a Sawyer, we have nothing to worry about."

"You know why your sons cut you out? It's because of things like this. It's because you find things to fix and you meddle and you end up messing everything up, and it makes people hate you. So here's the deal: I'll make out with Sawyer all I want, you leave me alone and you keep in mind that any number of people will kick your ass if they find out that you just called me a slut."

"Sure you're not my granddaughter? And anyway, I don't have to worry about you doing anything to him. You're too afraid. And I shudder to think what the child of two cousins would turn out like," he said easily.

This man was intolerable. I'd just been sitting on a bench, minding my own business, dwelling, when he came along. How did he know what I even looked like, anyway?

"I'm quite sure. My mom would never do that do Daddy," I said. I wasn't actually sure. Ever since Lucas's midnight confession I'd been dwelling on the idea and wondering how it had possibly come about. Mom had already promised that it hadn't happened. And if Sawyer was my cousin…

"She kissed him. And didn't she betray her best friend for him once? Don't be so sure about the past sweetheart, it spends a lot of time lying to you."

I refused to turn to face him as he left. That had been incredibly surreal.

I drove home, the interaction still in my mind. Just when Sawyer and I had gotten our act together, Lucas had confessed that it was possible I had strong feelings for a blood relative.

Mom and Daddy were together when I walked in, their heads bent together. They were whispering, but looked up when I arrived.

"How is it possible?" I asked at last. Daddy sighed and put his hand atop mom's. Why wasn't he mad?

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked. I nodded.

"I had just gone shopping with Haley and Brooke, and your Dad was with Jenny somewhere when I got back. I was um… I was wearing some lingerie we'd bought earlier, and he came in without knocking, like all my friends did. Then we talked, and he kissed me. And I don't remember anything else but your Dad coming home a couple hours earlier, and I remember a feeling of daze that I always associated with my sleeping. But Luke told me that I fell asleep when he was still there, and we did a lot more than I thought we'd ever done without my knowledge," she said. I closed my eyes for a long moment.

"He raped you."

"I don't know. I'm thinking he may have left some details out-date rape drugs, or something, just because that would make so much more sense. And I guess one of the reasons he disappeared was because he realized that it was a possibility and he didn't want to get in the way. So what do you want to do?" she asked tenderly. I looked back at my Father.

"Daddy, no matter what happens, you'll always be my Daddy. But I need to find out," I said. "Oh, and I guess you and Mom… you know'd at around the same time?"

To my surprise, my parents looked sideways at each other and blushed.

"Not for a week or so, on prom night. After the wedding, before prom, we.. didn't. Which is one of the reasons the night was so, you know, unrestrained," said Mom awkwardly.

"And unprotected," I said dully. To my surprise, my father reached out and held me in an embrace as we both allowed tears to fall.

"I had an interaction with Mr. Scott," I said, hours later, after the blood test.

"He's back? What did he say to you?"

"Oh, he called me a slut. And he called you a slut, and Aunt Haley, and he brought the Lucas thing to light," I said lightly to my mother. She groaned.

"Every time we think that that man had disappeared forever like he ought to, he shows up again. You know what he said when Nathan and Haley told him about Sawyer?" demanded Mom. I shook my head, but I knew she wouldn't tell me. "But wait, why did he call you slutty?"

I shrugged uncomfortably. I couldn't tell anyone yet, it was too precious.

"I guess he saw me with a guy or something. He's afraid I'll distract Sawyer from being on of the greats," I said.

"If Sawyer's ever one of the greats, it will be because his Dad never breathed down his neck like Dan did," said Mom ominously.

"What?"

"Oh. Part of the reason that Nathan got emancipated was because of his Dad and basketball. He just pushed and pushed, and Nathan hated it, so even after he became a pro he was always careful never to do the same to Sawyer, as much as he loved the game," explained Mom. This was a mystery that had mystified me for years.

"I can't be Lucas's father Mommy," I said suddenly.

"No matter what happens, your father will still be your father. Isn't that what matters?"

"No. Dan can't be my grandfather. Jenny has to be my sister. And Sawyer sure as hell can't be my cousin," I said. My eyes slid up to hers.

"Oh Squirt. You kissed him, didn't you."

"He kissed me," I said tiredly. She shrieked and hopped up.

"Oh Callie. We've been hoping for sixteen years. He's so right for you! Was it good?" she asked eagerly.

"It was perfect," I admitted. It poured back to me-the feelings, the desire.

"I won't tell your sisters, or even your father," she mentioned. I nodded.

"I don't want them to know until I'm sure of what I want," I said. She smiled and walked over to hug me.

"If there's one thing in the world we don't have to doubt, it's that you're at least my child," she said into my hair.

It was a whole three days later that the clinic called, bearing the results of the blood test.


	20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

"_When I'm not with you I lose my mind, give me a siiiiiign, hit me baby one more time!"_ I sang, laughably out of tune with my daughter Kylie. We danced around the huge house in towels from when I'd bathed her, singing along to one of my nineties CDs.

"Are you hungry sweetie?" I asked, pushing a damp dark curl away from her face. She nodded eagerly.

"Yeah. Can we get Joe to make me a sandwich?" she asked, in reference to our cook. I shook my head.

"No, I will. Come on," I said, kneeling down so she could clamber onto my back.

She sat on the counter where I made her sandwich, swinging her legs in time to more bad music. I carefully cut it into quarters with my inexperienced hands as Antonio came in.

"You don't have to do that," he said, nodding towards the plate I'd made for her. She got up and ran along the marble countertop, throwing herself into his arms. He twirled her around before setting her back on the marble-they were almost the same height with her advantage. I walked over to join them, and helped Kylie off the counter, handing her her sandwich. She ran off, and I faced him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, leaning against where she'd been a moment earlier.

"Coming to spend some time with my family. A crime?" he asked, leaning down to kiss me. I briefly allowed his tongue to roam my mouth before pulling back.

"We were bonding," I said stubbornly.

"Play nicely Brooke," he advised. I smiled weakly at him, and he pulled me into his arms. I sighed and rested my head on his chest.

"Did you have a nice day?"

"Yes. And you? What did you do?" he asked, pulling me up and sitting me on the counter before him, as Kylie had done.

"We just hung out. She inherited my singing voice," I said, giggling.

"Shoot," he said, laughing.

"What are we doing tonight?" I asked.

"Kylie is spending the night with a friend," he said. So that was what we were doing. I nodded.

"Okay," I said simply.

"And if you don't mind, the two of us are going to go visit my mother," he said. She lived just out of town. I nodded absently, and soon after the two left together.

I wandered up to our room after they'd left, admiring the bed curtains, the en suite bathroom, the beautiful hard wood floors. All the pictures of our perfect family of three.

I hadn't acquired a new bruise since the shoulder has started to heal.

I paused at a picture of our wedding day. My beautiful, diamond encrusted tiara, the silk gown, his handsomeness in his tux. The enormous diamond that weighed down my finger. I glanced down at it and slipped it off-I needed a way to rebel.

"Brooke?" said a voice from behind me. I spun around, and met his soulful brown eyes.

"Lucas," I breathed. We met halfway across the rooms, and immediately are lips found each other, crushing together in passion. He backed me up against a wall and familiarized himself with all my curves. After a sensual moment, I pushed him away.

"No, not again Luke. I won't be Peyton for you," I swore.

"Then for God's sake be Brooke for me," he said, diving back onto my mouth. I didn't think about what he was doing, about why he was doing it. I just thought about what I'd been wanting since I'd been a teenager. I felt his hardness through his pants, wrapped my arms around him and thought guiltily of how young he seemed.

My cell phone vibrated me against my hip, shocking me. I answered it immediately, dreading hearing my husband's voice. But Peyton answered. Her voice was urgent yet hysterical as she blurted out a lie that had colored her entire life. As I hung up, and he pushed up against me again, I pushed him off.

"Don't you dare, you sick bastard. You want her, and you're going for me because you know I'm easy. How dare you?" I demanded.

"It's not like that. I love you Brooke," he said sweetly, palming my cheek. He advanced toward me again, and I kneed him.

"No! You're never getting that from me again. You've turned into the kind of guy I've always known you could be. How can Peyton or Callie ever forgive you? You know I hope my husband does come here, just so I can tell him and he can kick your ass?" I said angrily. I realized guiltily that I'd wanted Lucas too much, that it had blinded me to why he'd come to me. Because he missed Peyton-of course.

"Shit Brooke. Come here," he said, kissing my neck roughly. I pushed him away and struggled under his strength. I'd wanted him to get under from Antonio's control, but they were exactly the same.

"Brooke!" came a call from across the room. Lucas backed away from me, and I slid to the ground in exhaustion. I looked to the door-Mouth. Why?

"Man, what are you doing here?" asked Lucas.

"Saving Brooke. Get out," he ordered menacingly.

"I wasn't hurting her," said Lucas uncertainly.

"Bull," he said. Surprisingly, Lucas left and I rubbed myself angrily where he'd touched, as though afraid he'd contaminated me.

Mouth walked toward me and helped me up, holding me lovingly once I'd stood. I nestled into him, relieved he wasn't trying to hurt me, or even kiss me. I'd become too used to dodging, or just settling.

"Shh. I'll take care of you," he promised. Another tear slid down my cheek.

"I thought he was good again," I sobbed.

"I know. I know. Shh," he said.

"He's just like Antonio. He pretends to be perfect and charming, but he hurts me just the same," I said, pulling down the shoulder of my blouse again. Mouth gasped almost inaudibly.

"He hit you?"

"Often."

"Divorce him!" he burst out angrily. I shook my head.

"I can't. I'm trapped," I said in despair. I thought again of the pre-nup.

"An agreement?" he asked. I nodded.

"You're so nice. I never should have left you," I said.

"No, I don't think you should have. I still love you," he admitted.

"Don't expect these things of me right now," I begged.

"Yeah. But we were too young," he said.

"Peyton wasn't."

"Peyton lived by herself since her thirteenth birthday. She's different from you. But we should have waited," he said. I nodded, even the sound of his voice soothing me. My mind drifted backward in time, and I thought of the shock and intensity of the last fifteen minutes.

"I don't know what to do," I sobbed.

"Don't worry. We'll think of something," he promised.


	21. Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty-One

_So I guess you realize that anything from this chapter onwards does not relate to the actual show, and events before this were based on those before the episode (Something He Can Never Have. Or something like that) which is why they might not make so much sense._

Daddy's face was pensive as he picked up the phone three days after the blood test. Weakly I hoped it was something to do with one of his patients, but deep down I knew that nothing else could give him that expression.

He turned to me, reading my own expression as he did. I held my breath, waiting for him to proclaim my fate.

"You're my daughter," he said finally. I threw myself at him, and we hugged for a long moment.

"I love you," I said in relief. Another afternoon of listening behind doors had confirmed my feelings of Lucas Scott.

"And I love you. I don't know what I'd have done, if…" he trailed off.

"Yeah. He's not a nice guy, is he?" I asked. Daddy sighed.

"That's a hard question to answer. He's done terrible things in his time, but in a way he is a good guy. He has problems with love, I guess. And he's spent fifteen years now, isolated from all of us, lonely. He's rich, but not happy. I think he thinks that the only thing that ever could have made him happy would be marrying your Mom, and now that he knows he can't, nothing could make him happy. Except for you maybe you, or that's what I figure," said Dad. It would have been nice, in a way, the thought of making someone's unhappy life complete-but not in practice.

"Or maybe Brooke," I said.

"Your Aunt Brooke's beautiful. And she's unhappy, but he is too. I can understand why he was drawn to her," he said.

"I wish she could just leave him," I said, sighing.

"Me too, kid. Now go to sleep. I'll tell your mother, she's been freaking that you haven't slept in a week. Go!" he ordered, laughing. I nodded and went, finally allowing fatigue to consume me.

Jenny was staring at me as I awoke the next morning. She hadn't known about the Lucas and Mom fiasco, I hadn't been brave enough to tell her. By the look on her face, she had learned, however.

"Hey," I said sleepily, stretching out. I felt guilty about how much I'd kept from Jenny in the past few days.

"I can't believe you dealt with all that alone," she said sympathetically, rubbing my back.

"It's been a crazy four days," I said honestly. Thinking not of Lucas, but of Sawyer.

"Yeah. Um, are you coming?" she asked, swinging her bag onto her shoulder. I looked at her and noted that she was fully dressed, freshly showered. I groaned and looked at the clock.

"I'll be ready soon. Don't leave without me!" I ordered, running out of the room in a towel.

I was still eating my breakfast when the three of us ran to the car, worried that another late would get us detention. I brushed out my hair while it was still wet from the passenger seat and prayed it wouldn't dry frizzy.

For first period, Jenny and I had our only class of the week together, gym.

"Callie!" called a voice from behind me. It was a tall, blue eyed handsome man.

But the wrong one.

"Hey Na… Mr. Scott," I said. He smiled.

"I heard the news. That's great," he said. I nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm so glad you're not my uncle," I said. He laughed and hugged me.

"As is my son, I hear," he said innocently.

"Haley told you?" I demanded.

"She knows?"

"Guess not. But Mom read my mind, maybe she told Haley, told you?" I suggested.

"No, Sawyer spilled. Good luck with that," he said, running ahead of me to the gym.

"Okay everybody, grab a partner and start with twenty sit ups," yelled Uncle Nathan once his class had arrived. I turned immediately to Jenny. Who had already partnered up with one of her friends. I sighed as the inevitable call came:

"Callie!"

Sawyer held down my feet as I began my sit ups.

"So, my Dad told me you got your results back," he said as I came up for the second time.

"Yeah," I said.

"That's great. So we don't have to worry anymore, and Lucas doesn't have to be your father," he said.

"Why?" I asked, as I pulled up again.

"Uh, because we're most definitely not blood relatives," he said, chuckling.

"That's not why I'm not going to be with you," I explained. I caught a flash of his beautiful eyes crumpling.

"Then why not?"

"Because! You're my best friend BJ! And I won't risk that!"

"Not for the best kiss you ever had? Not for the best chance you've ever had of a real relationship?" he demanded. I paused as I surfaced again.

"It's not like I don't got options," I said shortly.

"Cal, I've got all the options in the world and still I need to be with you," he said slowly. This was true.

"Yeah, like my sister," I shot back.

"Come on. That was one time that meant nothing to either of us. And I still wish it had never happened. Just cut me some slack?" he begged. I glared at him as I collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

"Hey, hold my feet," he instructed. I sat up again.

"You've called yourself my brother about a thousand times," I pointed out.

"I've been lying," he admitted.

"It's wrong."

"Yet so right," he said. For an instant I met his eyes, and his gaze met mine before traveling down my body. I shivered under the intensity.

"You know what, hold your own feet," I said, standing up and running from the gym.

"Callie!" called Nathan. Or was it Sawyer?


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

"You ran out of your first period class?" raged Mom, later that day.

"I was provoked!" I insisted.

"By what, a broken nail? And you skipped the rest of the day? What the hell were you doing?" she demanded.

"Making out with my boyfriend!" I countered.

"You know Calista Jagielski, your father and I have always tried to let you guys lead your own lives, but making out with someone to get back at someone who loves you is one of the lowest things I've ever seen you do," she said with forced calm.

"Like you're one to talk!"

It was one of the first times in years I'd expected Mom to slap me, on of the first times in years I'd deserve it.

"It's a different case. And I admit that it was the stupidest thing I've ever done, but you have yet to admit how in love you are!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! It's been obvious! For like three years now! Just face it for once!" she stated.

"I don't have to be with Sawyer. Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean we're soul mates. And I'm freakin' tired of everyone thinking we are," I said, storming out to the car.

The house I pulled up at was large and imposing, made primarily of dark stone and much larger than our own mansion.

I didn't have the courage to enter it without knocking, so I rang the bell. A maid answered. Seriously, a maid.

"Hi, I'm looking for John Fenning?" I said awkwardly.

"And you are, Miss?" she asked.

"Um, his girlfriend, Callie Jagielski," I explained. She nodded, and led me inside before leaving to find John.

Five minutes later we fell onto his bed, kissing and biting fiercely. He shed his shirt and helped me off mine, and his lips traveled across my uncovered body. I forced my hands to feign interest, to roam across his.

His pants were already off. He was coming closer, my body was preparing for him. Then:

"I can't do this," I whispered, backing up against the headboard. The silence split and we rebounded back into the real world.

"Ah."

"I'm sorry John. It just wouldn't be fair to you," I said.

"Because?"

"Because I'd be using you," I admitted.

"Because you're in love with Sawyer Scott?" he asked. His found his pants and pulled them back on.

"I don't know, John. But I'm mad at him, and this would kill him. I think you're a really good guy," I said helpfully.

"Thanks. But you know if Sawyer's right for you, you need to let him know," he said.

"It's too late."

"It isn't-I was watching you in class today, the guy's crazy over you. All you need to do is reach out to him, say yes instead of no and he'll be there like a shot," he said assuredly.

"I've been a bitch lately," I admitted.

"Come on, it's part of your charm," he said. He didn't object when I palishly slapped his head.

"I don't even know what I feel about him. I mean we kissed and it was perfect, but I've never been in a real relationship. And I don't think he has, either, so how can we figure it out? And what happens to our best friend days?"

"Cal, I hate to say this but your friendship, as it had been, has been over for months-probably since the time you slept in his bed," he said.

"I told you about that?" I asked in confusion. He nodded and laughed.

"Yeah, you talked about him a lot-doesn't do much for a guy's ego, let me tell you. But you're never going back to the days of the BFF, so you might as well go forward into something else," he said encouragingly.

"But it won't last forever, and I won't lose him," I said stubbornly.

"Weren't both your parents married before nineteen?" he said.

"Yeah-his at sixteen, but they separated for a year. Mine at eighteen, but my Mom made out with her ex-boyfriend a few times."

"Sure, but they're still together. They went through shit, but they came out okay," he said.

"You do realize you're saying these things to your ex-girlfriend?" I asked. He laughed again, and I laughed with him.

"Yeah, but you know, sometimes people stay friends, even after they break up," he said. I giggled and hugged him before leaving.

I'd semi-made up with my mother and avoided being grounded when Sawyer Scott arrived at the door.

"Come on, we're going out," he said when I answered.

"Uh, no we're not," I objected.

"Callie."

"Sawyer."

"Squirt."

"BJ."

"Okay, a tiny bit too cute. Now come on, grab some running shoes," he said. I groaned and did what he said, not bothering to object when he took my elbow and lead me to his car.

We ended up at the park. I gazed at it-I hadn't visited in years, but it was the start of all things in many ways. Before we could even talk and walk, our parents had taken us here to play in the sandbox and the swings, alternately talking with each other and even briefly moaning about pregnancies. I looked sideways at him and smiled.

"Be I can still beat you on the jump," he challenged. I shook my head.

"Nu-uh. Never," I said.

"Prove it," he challenged, getting out of the car. I followed him to the swings, where we began to pump our legs quickly to pick up speed.

We counted down from three before launching off the swings as late as possible, from the greatest distance. We flew briefly through the air before landing hard on the sand, tangled up with each other.

"Kicked your ass," he said. I giggled-my head was about level with his waist.

"Well, not my fault you're twelve inches taller than me," I said stubbornly.

"Or eleven, or something. Jenny used to be the best at that," he said reminiscently. I remembered how the five of us had made contests of it-Jenny would always win, after they'd all grown taller than me I'd always lose.

"Yeah, she was fearless," I said. I looked sideways at him in suspicion.

"Yeah, damn good faller. What next?" he said. I noticed a tree next to the playground, and memories flooded forth again-a hiding place, a home base, a secret home.

"Come on," I said. He got up before me, and helped me up. I kept his hand to lead him to the tree. I nimbly hoisted myself up to the lower branches and adroitly climbed up several more feet. I looked down at him awkwardly climbing to the branches I'd just left, and climbed until I'd reached the uppermost branches.

It was several more minutes before he reached me an perched precariously on the branch beside me. He was out of breath.

"That's practically suicide. I'll definitely give you that victory," he said gallantly.

"Gained? I earned it, BJ. You just aren't quick enough on your feet," I said. The tension that had been wrapped around us for days began to fade.

"Yeah, that's what my basketball coach says," he said.

"Well after all, he is your _dad," _I said.

"But he's unbiased."

"I ran into your grandfather," I said suddenly.

"Poor thing. I don't think I've even ever met him," he said thoughtfully.

"He was really mean, and he kept insinuating that me, Mom and Haley were all sluts. Quite pleasant," I said. He threw back his head to laugh.

"Yeah, he'll do that," he said. I peered through the leafy branches-the sun had begun to set, and we had the best view in the playground.

"We used to do this all the time," I said suddenly.

"Yeah, back before the training wheels got off our bikes," he said.

"More recently than that!" I protested.

"Fine, later," he said. I nodded in satisfaction.

My eyes widened in alarm and then fluttered close as his lips approached, breaking the casual, friendly moment. I leaned backwards on the branch, and he held me to steady me.

"Don't. Don't touch me," I begged.

"Callie, we have to stop doing this," he said.

"Yeah, we do! So stop trying!" I said. I scrambled down the branches, ignoring him when he reached the ground first and tried to hold out his arms to catch me.

"We both want this. Everyone knows it's inevitable," he said when we were both on the ground.

"Well, I've never been a big believer in fate," I said coolly.


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

I stood nervously in the door of my Daddy's office, waiting for him to turn around in his chair and face me. He was mad about something, but he hadn't yet told me what. It was torturing me-he'd called me down because he wanted to talk. Never a good sign.

"Callie, why is your phone bill three times as much as it ever has been?" he asked quietly. He showed me the bill, and I gasped. It was a lot, many long distance calls.

"They're not mine," I said defensively.

"But on your phone?"

"No, Jenny shares the same bill with me because of the freaky family plan thing. Maybe it was her?" I said innocently. My stomach plummeted. The biggest rule among my sisters was that you put your neck on the line before theirs. Ratting out a sibling was practically a sin. And I'd just done it.

"Who would Jenny be calling?" he wondered aloud.

"Who would _I _be calling?" I asked.

"Well, you spend more time on your phone than she does. I just assumed. Sorry Squirt," he said apologetically.

"Yeah, no problem," I said weakly, running back upstairs.

Our relationship was fragile. It was still recovering from the many bumps in the road-the discovery of Nikki, her and Sawyer, us withholding so much information. We weren't as close as we had been a month ago, we were on eggshells around one another. I wished I could take back what I'd said to Daddy.

Lauren got home before Jenny. She walked past my room before she noticed me, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She doubled back.

"Hey," she said, entering the room. I smiled weakly at my little sister.

"I just messed up," I confessed. She bounced onto the bed opposite.

"Ooh, with Sawyer?" she asked excitedly. I ignored her comment.

"Daddy thought I'd spent too much time on my phone and I said that Jenny had, and we're weird enough around each other without this," I admitted.

"You ratted her out?" she said immediately.

"Unintentionally. Hey, was it you spending all that time?" I asked curiously. She looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nope, still spend less time than you. The everyone does," she said, giggling again.

"Must have been Jenny. Calling Rhys, maybe? If she used the main line Mom or Daddy could accidentally pick up?" I theorized.

"Maybe. But he lives within area."

"Yeah, that just doesn't make sense. Who else does she know who's out of area?"

"No one. None of us do, our world is fairly small," said Lauren.

"Yeah. Maybe the phone company made a mistake," I said.

"Yeah," she responded, looking at me oddly. The matter didn't bother her as much as it bothered me.

Jenny descended upon us then, and hugged the pair of us, chatting animatedly about her day and the cheerleading practice I'd forgotten to go to. Cough, cough.

"Um Jenny," I said, when a gap came in her flow of words.

"What?"

"well. Daddy thought I'd used all these minutes on my phone and then I accidentally said you had, made all these long distance calls. And I'm sorry," I said. She stared.

"Shit."

"What? I'm sorry," I said hastily.

"Oh, I know. It's not your fault. It's just that…" she stopped speaking abruptly as a call echoed through the house. Daddy's voice was raised in anger.

"JENNIFER ANNA JAGIELSKI!" he yelled. We heard his running footsteps, and he appeared, livid, in our door. She appeared to shrink guiltily before him.

"Daddy," she said weakly.

"All these calls. The area code's to Charlotte. You called Charlotte? You're in contact with her, right?" he demanded. I spun around to face her, my ponytail smacking my face as I did so.

"Um."

"Nikki Turner! You've been in contact with her! Do you even know what she's like?" he asked.

"She's a victim, Daddy!" cried Jenny.

"She isn't! She's just a damn good liar. She abandoned me. She abandoned you! She tried to kidnap you in a mall!" he said in frustration.

"Nikki says that's because you let Mom take care of me and she shouldn't be trusted! Besides, when she actually got custody of me you let me hide away with some decrepit old man," she insisted.

"Whitey and I did what we had to do to keep you away from a monster. And if you're m… if Nikki wasn't such a backstabbing bitch, it wouldn't matter that your mother looked away for a second," he said. I reached for Lauren's hand and she gripped it as we watched she horrifying act.

"Peyton Sawyer is not my mother!" cried Jenny. My knuckles turned white as Lauren gripped my hand again, but I hardly noticed. I felt myself pale, my eyes grow wide.

"While one can argue that Peyton did not give birth to you, she has taken care of you, risked herself for you, sacrificed for you, for seventeen years. And Peyton Jagielski. While everything else can be denied, she has been my wife for sixteen years. And for that, she deserves respect, if nothing else," he said, leaving the room in an creepy silence.

"She's your mother," I said softly.

"Shut up, Callie Scott," she bit back. It hit me like a slap in the face.

"Even if Lucas had been my father, I would never, ever regard him as that," I said coolly.

"It's not that easy!"

"Po! Yes it is!" I argued. She stared at me as I dropped her baby name. When Lauren had been young, she'd become obsessed with the most popular children's show of the year-Teletubbies. Her own nickname, Lala (from me, when I hadn't been able to say her name) had fit in perfectly with the show. Jenny treated the whole thing with scorn-her, a mature six year old, watch such a degrading show? It had landed her with the name, Po. It had stuck, though not as well as Squirt had. And I'd only started calling Sawyer BJ when we'd hit adolescence.

"I lost my virginity," said Lauren suddenly, breaking the tension of the moment. Jenny and I stared at her.

"You're fourteen. With who?" demanded Jenny.

"Oh, Jason. He broke up with Tess. It was kind of uncomfortable," she admitted. I groaned.

"How is it possible that my little sister lost it before me?" I asked, rolling my eyes heavenward.

"Like you haven't had opportunities. And you're not really one, are you?" asked Lauren in surprise.

"Uh, yeah I am," I said defensively.

"Huh. Just thought John and you were getting pretty cozy…" said Jenny suggestively.

"Well, we're not. We're broken up anyway, and I'm never going to sleep with someone like him," I said, trying to forget the time on his bed the day before.

"So, someone taller, with darker hair, blue eyes, hot body?" asked Jenny.

"Maybe I'll just become a nun," I said. They giggled, and I joined them.

"Why did you call Nikki?" asked Lauren bluntly. Jenny shrugged.

"I don't know. I've just been so confused, and she did give birth to me. She has my eyes, you know?" said Jenny, as hers began to tear up.

"I noticed. But she's such a terrible person," I said gently.

"Is anyone really good or bad?"

"Yes, two people. Dan Scott and Nicole Turner," I answered.

"She's my mother. I can't never speak to her again," said Jenny.

"Too bad."

"Yeah."


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

_I'd like to shout out to gooseles, author of the longest, best story on the board. Good job!_

With a sigh I began to study the title of the books on the shelf. My eyes skimmed through them for a book to help me in my history project. Reaching at random, my hand fell on one about the French revolution. I pulled it out, and dust was dislodged and fell. I took a step backward.

As I began to turn around, two arms arrived on either side of me. I glanced down the aisle-no one else was visible. I spun around to face him, and found I had to tilt my head backwards to see more than his basketball jacket.

Sawyer Scott looked back at me, his eyes boring down at me. I rolled my eyes and pushed forward, but he didn't move an inch. His arms on either side of me held fast. I dropped my eyes from his, staring past his shoulder to the opposite shelf. I relaxed, and tried my hardest to pretend I didn't notice or care about how close we were.

He took one arm off the shelf beside me. I took advantage of this, trying to wriggle away in the empty space, but he quickly pushed forward, and our bodies were pinned together. I tried to ignore the sensation I felt as he pushed close to me and felt all my curves against his body. The arm went to my face, and he tilted my chin, forcing me to look at him again.

"What are you doing?" I asked, squirming again.

"What you think," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said stubbornly.

"You do Callie. You've been avoiding me for three days," he said.

"You ignored me for almost a week after the Charlotte incident," I reminded him.

"You weren't exactly going out of your way to talk to me. I've practically had to stalk you to convince you to talk to me," he said.

"Yeah, well, add sexual harassment to the list. Stop it," I said, attempting to swat his hand away as his fingers traveled along my collar bone, savoring the feel of them. For an instant I allowed myself to remember the feel of his lips on mine.

"If you want me to," he whispered into my ear.

"I'm not going to be your second choice. I refuse to be with you because you're in love with my sister," I declared.

"I'm not," he promised. He pushed a lock of my hair away from my face. Without my mind's permission, my hand shot out and met his.

"But you were before," I said persistently.

"Maybe. All I know is that I've known I was in love with you since you ran away to our house and slept in my bed. I've never had to try so hard not to touch you," he said. That was weeks ago. I hadn't thought of him like that until more recently.

"It was after that, with Jenny," I said softly.

"If you were handed something you'd thought of as a dream for five years, and even if you'd recently discovered if wasn't what you'd wanted, would you throw it away? Or would you test it?" he asked.

"Throw it away."

"You're a liar, Callie Jagielski," he said.

"That's not very nice."

"I think we can handle it," he said. We laughed quietly together. I took in the stillness of the library-we were very much alone. And I'd never been this close to him. Even when we'd kissed, there had been space between us. Now our bodies were completely melded together, mine was pressed up against the shelf.

I was caught off guard, lost in memories when he lowered his lips to mine. I was frozen in shock for a moment before my eyes fluttered closes and I opened his mouth, allowing him to explore it and reveled in the almost forgotten feel of his touch.

We were so close that I couldn't have pulled away if I wanted to. His hands moved from the shelf beside me to on me, around my body, touching things he'd only ever looked at. My hands ran through his hair, down his back, even bravely onto his backside.

"We can't do this here," I said, panting for breath. I'd pulled my lips away, but I was still held fast to him.

"Mm," he said, kissing me again. Against my better judgment I responded and we slid back into bliss.

"No, we have to go somewhere else," I insisted minutes later. He nodded, and reluctantly released me.

Sawyer steered me out of the library, his hand on the small of my back. He carried my books in his muscled arm. The few people that we passed in the halls stared at us in surprise.

I took a deep breath as we exited the school into the parking lot. The air was cool and fresh, as it was when expecting a storm or after one. He easily turned my body with one hand toward his car.

"You don't have to do that. I'm not going anywhere," I promised.

"You'd better not," he said, caressing my ear with his lips.

I sat in the passenger seat of his car as I'd done so many times before as we sped off.

As often as I he could, he took his hand of the wheel to reach over and fondle my bare thigh. Sometimes when he did this, I'd touch my hand on his and he'd begin to play with my hand instead, greeting me with the familiar sensations.

Eventually we ended up at his parent's beach house. I'd spent a lot of time there over the years, many sleepovers, barbeques, picnics at the beach. It was even more beautiful than the elder Scott beach house, further down.

It was pouring when we ran inside, hand in hand. He quickly unlocked the door and I ran inside ahead of him to flick the lights on.

I turned around in the newly bright room to face him, running my hands through my sopping hair as I did so. Our eyes locked and his hand hovered on the door, ten feet away from me. I saw his eyes hungrily take in the sight of me. My white shirt, plastered to my skin, didn't leave much to the imagination. My denim mini skirt had ridden up in the car and rain, exposing almost my whole thigh.

I slowly approached him, running the last few steps. I jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist, kissing him again. While we kissed he walked up the stairs to the master bedroom and he dropped me on a king sized bed before climbing on top of me.

I took of my shirt and he unhooked my bra in a moment. His shirt came off and we stared at each other's bodies before continuing on to farther than anything I'd ever done.

But his hands were experienced. He knew what to do, when to do it, what to touch. He knew how to make me have an orgasm. He couldn't possibly know how incredible was.

I reluctantly stopped him as it was just about to happen.

"I can't do this," I said.

"Why not?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm a virgin, Sawyer. And I need more time," I said.

"Okay. Come here," he said. He rolled off of me and took me in his arms.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just want you here. With me," he said.

"Me too," I agreed.

_Author's note: Just in case you're curious, this is so not the end. Ooh, and I got my first uncomplimentary review! How exciting._


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

The first thing I noticed in the morning was then bed.

The thick cotton sheets were of excellent quality, the base board was of dark finely carved wood. The coverlet I was tangled in had a pretty pattern of flowers on it. It was easily two times bigger than my own.

The second thing I noticed was that I shouldn't be there.

It was a Saturday morning. Had I skipped the game? I belonged in my own narrow bed, Jenny sleeping in the bed opposite, the sounds of Mom and Daddy awakening intruding on my dreams. The contrasting sounds of seagulls was completely foreign to me.

As I sat up and the sheet slipped of me, I blushed at my state of undress. The night came back to me in a flood-the library, the drive, being carried to the bed. The slickness of our bodies from the rain. What we'd done. What we'd not done.

I slipped out of bed and my feet danced at they touched the cold floorboards. I picked up the first garment I could find-his hooded sweatshirt. I put it on. It came up to only my mid thigh. Without even running a brush through my mused curls, I walked slowly downstairs.

He was making pancakes. I stood still for a moment before announcing myself, not wanting him to stop doing an act that endeared me so greatly.

"Hey," I said at last. He turned around at once and I smiled at the sight of his bare chest.

"Hey. You should wear my clothes all the time," he said, indicating all the skin that his sweatshirt left exposed. I sent him a jokingly scathing looked and hopped up onto the counter beside the stovetop.

"You can cook."

"Not really. Just pancakes and uh pasta. Dad said it was something I was supposed to know how to do," he explained. I laughed.

"Yeah, girls dig it. But look real hard while you can, because my Daddy is going to kill me when I get home. And you, most likely," I said.

"No, my Mom will take care of that. But I think I can take her," he said cockily.

"You know she's even taller than me?" I said, sticking out my lower lip.

"Well, you're pretty much as little as it gets," he said.

"Hey! I'm not little… everywhere!" I defended, my cheeks reddening.

"Never implied that you were," he said.

"You're nice," I said. He glanced sideways at me and smiled in his most adorable way. How could I have ever not noticed how hot he was?

"Okay, breakfast's ready. Come here," he commanded, stepping in front of me. He held his hands out, and I grasped them firmly as he helped me down.

The two of us quietly ate the pancakes at the kitchen table. We relaxed into old habits, acted almost as we had in our old, irretrievable days as best friends.

"Okay, what next?" I asked, a half hour later, after we'd finished eating and loading our dishes into the dishwasher. My glance strayed to the bright scenery outside the window and he followed my eyes.

"Apparently the beach," he said.

"I don't have a suit," I objected.

"'Aint nothing wrong with that. Um, go look in the third room on the right, third floor. Tess'. She'll probably have something for you to borrow.

Lauren was considerably taller than me, but I was also slimmer and more developed. It took me a while to find a pink string bikini. I also managed to find a brush and carefully brushed out my hair, managing to arrange it into a semi presentable state.

We met on the warm dry sand. He smiled when he saw me and took my hand in his, but didn't kiss me or try to. We ran into the water and played in the waves, anchored by one another. We chased each other along the sand. He pretended it was remotely a contest.

"I had a creepy interaction with your grandfather," I said, much later as I lay on a towel.

"Ew. What happened?" he asked curiously. Sawyer had never known him.

"Well, he said if I knew what was good for me I wouldn't go near his grandson, because if I did I might derail your chances of an NBA future," I said.

"Creep. Did he see us, on the basketball court?" he wondered.

"I figure. I hate it when I think I'm doing private things and it turns out I've actually been watched," I confessed.

"Okay, time for me to admit something. Last night wasn't the first time I've seen you naked," he said, I rolled over and squinted at him, his shape silhouetted in the bright sunlight.

"What? When?"

"Oh, that time you went swimming I came over to talk to you and I looked into the backyard and there you were," he said. I blushed again-I hadn't just been swimming, I'd been skinny dipping. Big difference.

"God, that never even occurred to me. Who let you inside?" I asked curiously.

"Peyton."

"Argh, she never mentioned it. I'll certainly be having words with her when I get home."

'Which will be never, if I have any say in it," he said. I smiled before turning back onto my stomach.

My cell phone rang, disrupting the easy moment.

"Daddy?" I asked tensely.

"No, it's Mom. Where the hell are you?" she asked, curious more than angry. Daddy would have been worried.

"Um, with Sawyer, at the beach house," I admitted.

"Oh my God! Did you?" she asked.

"Mom! And no!" I cried.

"Almost?"

"Very nearly. I'm not going to get pregnant, I promise. I'll be home later today or tomorrow, don't worry about me," I said.

"I'll try not. Your father has a delivery, if we're lucky he won't have to find out," she said.

"Yeah, I hope so. My love to Jenny and Lala, and for both our sakes, don't freakin' tell them, okay?" I asked.

"Sure. Have fun," she said.

"So, are you dead yet?" he asked as I'd hung up the phone, dropping onto the sand beside me.

"Not quite. We're going to hide it from my Daddy."

"Okay. Mom and Dad are in New York for the day for some benefit thing," he said.

"Lucky."

"It's what happens, with a pro basketball player and a retired pop star," he said.

"I wonder what the country will think of us-NBA's best, and what?" I asked, pausing at the thought of my future occupation.

"Come on, I've heard you sing," he pressed.

"Yeah, well I've heard you sing," I retorted.

"No way in hell," he said assuredly.

_Author's note: So I know the almost sex was completely unbelievable, but whatever. Oh, and this is shaping out to be many, many more chapters. A good thing, seeing as it's the last story in the series…_


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Callie, get in here!" yelled Jenny. It was almost twenty four hours since the time at the beach, a whole other night had passed and I was finally back home. And aching for him.

"What?" I asked, walking to the doorway of our room. Lauren sat on my bed while Jenny sat on hers.

"I'm lecturing, and I need your help. Come here," she ordered again. I compiled easily and sat down next to her.

"Jennifer was lecturing me on the sins of impurity," said Lauren with false brightness.

"Right. Bad idea Lauren! You're fourteen. You're just a kid. And you know what can come of that? Pregnancy, STDs, loss of respect! Not just from your family and friends, but from yourself! Do you really want to look in the mirror in twenty years and see yourself as someone who lost it at fourteen? You're too young! And with Jason Winters! He was your best friend's boyfriend! What would Tess think about it? Isn't your relationship with her more important than some boy? And I thought you wanted to wait until you got married," I said.

"Okay, you lecturing me is fair enough but Jen has no place in this," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms. She groaned.

"I was one until junior year! And Squirt has as much a right as I have-come on, she's just spent two nights in Sawyer Scott's bed," said Jenny.

"Jenny!" I shrieked.

"What? Mom can't keep a secret for her life. So spill already," she said.

"We didn't have sex. We almost did. And besides, we're getting completely of topic," I said.

"Chicken. Anyway, Laure. This will only harm you in the long run. Do you know what people think of you? Of someone who did it with a guy who wasn't even her boyfriend, who used to go out with her very best friend? Do you really want that on your record?" said Jenny sternly.

"Actually, I don't even get why I'm being lectured seeing as it's a bit too late for that. And I don't see why it's so much worse than being a hookup queen," she said. This viciously, in my direction.

"Hey!" I said defensively.

"Cal's big on hookups, but everyone knows she never goes all the way. She's made out with the entire varsity basketball team but they're always groaning about how they're not good enough for her to go all the way with them. And if you stop doing this, if you're abstinent for another year or so, this one might go under the bridge," said Jenny.

"Thanks. And yeah. This won't be such a big deal if it was a one time thing. You can blame it on alcohol," I said helpfully. I felt guilty, us ganging up on her, but I thought that it was one of the worst decision's she'd ever made.

"So it's better to be a drunken whore than an easy lay?" she demanded angrily.

"Lala, calm down! You don't want people to look down on you for the rest of your life!" I said.

"Rest of my life?" she said scathingly.

"People still remember Brooke Davis' history. People still remember Mom… and Lucas," I defended.

"It was one time!"

"And all we're trying to say is that it shouldn't be more!" said Jenny.

"Go to hell," she said, flouncing out of the room.

"That sure went well," I said, laughing wryly as I put my head on my big sister's shoulder.

"Yep, just peachy. So can you tell me?" she asked eagerly.

"What? Oh, yeah. Um we met in the library and he kind of cornered me and we kissed for a while until I said we shouldn't do it in the library, so we went to his beach house and started fooling around on the bed. And then he made me… you know but then I said I wasn't ready so we just slept together on his bed and I woke up the next morning and went downstairs in his sweater and he was making me breakfast. Uh then we hung around on the beach for a while then we basically did the same thing the next night," I summed up.

"That's so great," she said.

"It is, isn't it," I said.

"Maybe you'll get married," she suggested.

"Uh, no," I said.

"Why not?"

"Because we haven't gone on our first date yet. Hey, you hear something?" I asked, as I began to hear running footsteps. I sat up suddenly and my eyes took in her white face an I began to understand. We gripped hands as Daddy entered, eyes glaring.

"Jennifer Jagielski, why is Nicole Turner staying at the motel downtown?" he demanded.

"Her choice," she said flippantly.

"Actually it isn't. Because if she tries to see you, she'll be arrested. Now, why is Nicole Turner staying at the hotel downtown?" he asked, standing over us.

"Because she's worried about me," burst out Jenny.

"Worried? Worried about what? Your upper class home, your perfect grades, your ideal familial situation?"

"Worried that it seems you've left out every detail of your entire life!" she said.

"What did she tell you?" asked Daddy, slightly more subdued.

"That you asked her to marry you, and when she came back and tried to get you to honour that you shot her down!" exclaimed Jenny. I gasped.

"Did she mention that…" he was cut off.

"You asked her to marry you?" asked a voice softly, from the door. Six eyes turned to see it.

"Pey…" he started.

"No, Jake. The truth, for once. You asked her to marry you."

"I love you," he said desperately.

"And?"

"It was the honourable thing to do," he said slowly. He walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She shook him off.

"I was your second choice, wasn't I," she said dully.

"No! I wouldn't have ever married Nikki if it hadn't been for Jenny. We didn't get married because of Callie," he reminded her.

"No, we got married because of Jenny!" she said hysterically, shaking his hands off her again.

"Don't let her come between us Peyton," he implored. Her eyes filled with tears.

"I can't, Jake. Because she already has."

She ran down the hall and I heard the front door slam and her car start up.

"I'm going out," said Jenny shortly.

She began to walk into the hall, but Daddy caught her arm on the way out.

"Actually no. You'll go to school and cheerleading practice. You'll go to games with your sister. Otherwise, you're staying here," he said, staring straight ahead.

"I didn't do anything!" she protested.

"Jenny, I love you. And I hate doing this to you, really I do. But none of us can afford the risk of you and her," he said.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Six

Glancing guiltily over my shoulder, I entered my husband's musty study. In semi darkness I groped for filing cabinet. The one I'd never seen opened, not in ten years of marriage. My hands trembling, I turned the key in the lock and jerked the top drawer open.

It was full of files. Nothing that I could make sense of or care about. Accounts of his business, bank papers.

The second drawer was more personal things-our marriage certificate, the dreaded prenup. A picture of Kylie on the day of her birth. A picture of a young Spanish boy amidst several brothers and sisters. A picture of me. Smiling.

The third drawer held the only things I cared about. A change of name certificate. A transcript of a trial. A different marriage certificate.

The light flicked on and I turned my head to face him, still on my knees. He saw what I was looking at and banged the door shut with his foot.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, near tears.

"Nothing that concerns you," he said shortly.

"I'm your wife! Everything concerns me!" I countered.

"This is things that happened when you were still a child," he said.

"Explain it to me!" I demanded.

"Brooke, go to bed," he said.

"I won't. I won't until you tell me," I said. He sighed.

"I was married once, twenty years ago. One day I woke up and discovered that her and the baby had both died. There was a trial, they tried me but couldn't find sufficient evidence. I changed my name and moved away to get away from the shame," he said.

"Did you kill her?" I asked softly.

"Not myself," he said.

"Antonio…" I said, suddenly terrified.

"I had to. I had a call from my brother-she'd seduced him. Dirty whore," he said bitterly.

"So you ordered your wife to be killed?" I asked, my voice squeaking. He closed the study door.

"Not the child-he did that out of spite. Calm down. You're safe," he said in exasperation.

"I've just heard all I had to," I said, suddenly grasping an idea.

"What?"

"Seriously. All I have to do is take this in front of a judge, and tell them what you've told me and I can divorce you and get Kylie!" I said. Perhaps not a good thing to say in the company of a murderer.

"Or I can take that paper from you and you're nothing but a girl with a flimsy story," he said.

"Who are they going to believe?" I asked confidently.

"Me," he said shortly. He leaned down to reach for the paper. I shrieked and rolled into a ball, the paper pulled protectively to my chest. He forcefully and easily pulled my body loose and held me while I struggled and pulled the document from my hands.

"Now go to bed and hope I don't divorce you, leave you penniless and take my child away from you," he said.

It was a week before I'd worked up the guts to do what I had to do.

During the entire week, he'd barely let me out of his sight. He'd kept the door to his study constantly locked, he'd worked at home. He began to sleep on the outside of the bed. He didn't trust me.

It was only possible because he went away on business. It didn't matter so much-even if I left with Kylie, he could divorce me and get her. And he knew that she was the only thing that mattered to me. He took all his keys with him

He didn't know that doors could be broken down. That locks could be picked. He didn't know how desperately I wanted to get away from him.

Kylie and I walked out the front door mid afternoon one day, possibly never to return. Under my arm I carried a file full of documents. In my purse I had nothing at all.

I and my daughter sang along happily to the radio. Periodically I looked sideways at her-she had no idea what was going on. She didn't know that I was taking her from her beloved father, taking her to a potential new father. She couldn't possibly know that the world as she knew it was about to turn upside down. Didn't know that her easy days of wealth were already over.

My heart was in my throat as I took her hand and led her to an elevator up to the penthouse apartment. Was this really what was best for her? Best for me?

"Hey," I croaked, as he answered the door.

"Hey Brooke, Kylie," said Luke, answering the door.

"I need to talk to you," I said.

"Come on in." He ushered us inside and I settled Kylie in front of a cartoon show before I joined Luke in the kitchen and he handed me a glass of hard liquor, sensing I needed it.

"What's up?"

"I just left Antionio," I whispered. He gaped.

"What? Why?"

"I found out that he had his wife murdered for cheating on him with his brother. And he hits me," I confessed. I showed him a bruise I'd gotten from the confrontation in his study. He let out a low whistle.

"Wow. I'm sorry, Brooke. Want to stay with me?" he offered.

"That would be great," I said.

"Doesn't he have the right to take her in the case of a divorce?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the hotel living room.

"Yeah, but I think this will provide a sufficient case. And I don't want his money," I said. If he gave me any, I'd burn it.

"You're so brave," he said wonderingly. I went into the arms he offered and relaxed as he hugged me tightly.

I tilted my face up to look in his eyes.

"Did you rape Peyton?" I asked softly.

"No," he said, leaning down to kiss me. For a moment I returned his kiss, certain it was what he wanted. Then I saw another face-a less handsome one. One that held, and would always hold, the foremost place in my heart.

"Luke?" I said, interrupting the gentle kiss.

"Yeah?" he asked, smiling into my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this," I said, backing out of the room.

Kylie was confused as to why we were on the road again, but I managed to dodge her questions.

The next house we stopped at was large and beautiful-journalism and sports announcing can give that to you. I hesitantly knocked the doorbell, and his eyes widened when he saw me.

"Hey. Kylie, go inside," I instructed. She walked off, obviously confused.

"Brooke?"

"I'm… I'm still in love with you," I confessed, crying as he took me in his arms.

_Author's note: Bet you'd thought I'd forgotten this storyline-sorry about that._


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The sound of Daddy a pacing along the first floor was distracting, but it wasn't what kept me awake. It was Jenny's absence. She was somewhere in the night, at a party or a club, but even I didn't know where. Her cell phone was turned off, no one had seen her all day, and I found I couldn't sleep without her ten feet away from me.

My insides tensed when I heard a foot scrambling on the trellis outside my window but it wasn't her-she wasn't a chicken. I knew who it was. I'd been expecting him.

I ran to the window, shivering in my thin satin nightie. I opened it fully and looked down. It was definitely him, awkwardly climbing up the trellis, avoiding rose thorns.

"Hey," I whispered when he arrived, his upper body leaning through my window. He kissed me.

"Hey. For you," he said, handing me a red rose. I sniffed it, and noted that it was wet. I giggled.

"You got this climbing up here," I accused.

"Well, it's the thought that counts. Help me out here?" he asked, holding out one of his large hands. I grabbed it and pulled.

All at once he tumbled into the room, landing on the floor and pinning me underneath him.

"You planned this," I said.

"No, just luck. How are you doing?"

"Weird. Jenny's not back yet," I worried.

"She'll be okay," he said confidently. He leaned down to kiss me again. I became aware of his weight pressing down on me, but I'd ceased to care-now, more than I ever had, I wanted him to do all he'd done to me. I wanted him to do all that, and then go further. That one last step.

But right then, all we needed was the kissing. We kissed and kissed, our kisses ranging from passionate to loving.

"Sawyer?" I said, interrupting the kiss.

"Yeah?" he said, pulling his face from mine.

"What if we don't last?"

"What do you mean?" he asked confusedly.

"Well what if we break up? We'll still be pushed together for the rest of our lives-how are we supposed to handle that?"

"Well, we just won't split up," he said easily.

"What, ever?" I asked. He sensed fear in my eyes.

"No, don't freak out. I can't handle that now. We'll just um, ford that bridge when we come to it," he suggested.

Smiling, I leaned up and we began kissing again.

"Hey!" barked a voice, slicing the moment in half. I craned my neck to look-Daddy. Of course. He'd heard a noise, presumed it was Jenny…

"Daddy," I said weakly. Sawyer leapt up.

"Uncle Jake!" he said breathlessly.

"Does anyone tell me anything in this house?" he ranted as I sat up on my knees, carefully arranging the thin fabric of my nightie to cover as much as possible.

"We weren't going to have sex," I explained.

"Really?" he said sarcastically.

"Really. We've been doing this type of stuff for a week now, but not much more," said Sawyer.

"I'm not blind, everyone knows all about you," he said. I cringed-the stories, he meant. Of Sawyer and cheerleaders. The true stories.

"This means more to me than that," he said, resting a hand on my bare shoulder.

"Fine. Cal, we'll talk in the morning. Sawyer Scott, go home," he said tiredly.

"Daddy no," I said impulsively.

"What?"

"Cal, it's okay," said Sawyer gently.

"No, it's not. I want you to stay-we won't do anything, I just can't sleep alone," I said. Daddy looked at Sawyer for a long moment. But trust won out. He did trust him. He'd known him since the day he was born. He'd watched him grow in his mother's stomach.

"Fine. Go, sleep. Calista Jagielski, put on some more presentable pajamas," he ordered before leaving. I giggled and put out my hands for him to help me up.

"So, planning on changing into something presentable?" he said suggestively. I laughed and gave him a coquettish look before spinning around and dropping the thin satin fabric.

I'd only once woken up pressed to his body, his arms around me, and the one time hadn't been enough to make my body grow used to it.

"Hey," I said sleepily.

"Hey."

"Um, I have to get up," I said reluctantly.

"Aww," he joked.

"I know. I have to go locate my Mom and my sister," I explained.

Lauren barely glanced my direction when I walked downstairs fully dressed and ready to go out, but Daddy nodded at me. They were both of them lost souls.

Sawyer offered to go with me to search the town, but I turned him down. He was close to me, but just outside my immediate circle of family. And of course, he wasn't really family any more-he'd banished himself from that realm, that day at the rivercourt.

I'd go to the river court if I was lost and confused. Or to the Scott house. Mom wouldn't. I knew she'd had her first date with Daddy along the boardwalk, but it wasn't the sort of place she'd hide. She needed something more contained, more hidden.

On inspiration I turned back to residential Tree Hill and pulled to a stop in front of a familiar house. We still owned it. Even after Daddy had made his practice successful, and we'd bought the newer, more beautiful red brick house, we'd kept the first. We rented it out most of the time, but I knew it was empty. It was the house I'd been born in, the house they'd first lived in together. It was too small to live in, but too precious to let go of.

The door was open. Mom never could learn to shut her doors.

"Hey," I whispered. I rounded the corner into a bare room-she was sitting on the floor, crying again. I walked over and sank down to join her.

"What are you still doing out here?" I asked.

"Callie, I know in the last few weeks you've found some things. Probably more than you ever wanted to know. And I'm sorry for that, really I am. I just thought I'd found everything by now," she said.

"I don't think we ever can."

"Jake and I wouldn't have gotten married then without the pressure of Nikki on our necks. It wouldn't have been necessary, and we were so young. I wasn't in love with him, or didn't know I was. But I thought I could handle being married to him, if nothing else but to keep Jenny safe. He's a good guy, your father. But I always thought he loved me. I thought he turned to me for help because he loved me, not just because he knew I'd come through. But now I find out he basically did the same thing for Nikki, only she never fell for it?" said Mom, her voice growing hysterical near the end of her speech.

"Mom, Daddy loves you. He always has," I comforted.

"I always thought that, but he loved Nikki once," she countered.

"Not as much as he loves you!"

"How could he keep this from me?"

"He didn't want to hurt you. And he just did it because it was what was expected of him, not because he wanted to. Come on, he was fifteen," I said.

"Some would say that's old enough," she said.

"Who, Haley Scott? Come on," I said, helping her to her feet.

I breathed a sigh of relief later in the day as Dad and Mom forgave each other. Their strong relationship had always meant a lot to me.

Jenny wasn't back in time for dinner, so the four of us had dinner alone.

"This is weird, both of you being home on a Saturday night," mentioned Mom.

"Yeah, I'm being monitored," sneered Lauren.

"The other options were lame," I said, hoping they wouldn't pick up one Lauren's remark.

"Hey, you know who died?" asked Mom to us. We all shook our heads. "Erica Marsh-she went to high school with us."

"Poor girl, how?" asked Daddy.

"She O.D'd. She was a good person a long time ago," said Mom.

"Couldn't that be said of many?" asked a self aware, triumphant voice from behind us. A voice that all but one of us recognized. A voice that was impossible not to dread.

_Author's note: So obviously I'm a little bitter. But seriously, what is WRONG with Mouth? I should write that show._


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"So I guess even fake blondes can't figure out how to lock their doors," said Nikki cattily as she sauntered into the room.

"Intruders are generally intelligent enough to come at night," quipped Mom.

"Quicker than I remembered you," said Nikki.

"Nikki, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Daddy, standing up.

"I came to see our daughter," she said.

"Oh, our daughter?" he asked, gesturing toward Mom and himself.

"No Jake, ours. Come on, it's been eighteen years!" she protested. Seductively.

"Actually, it's been sixteen," said Mom.

"And it's still illegal. Is she with you?" asked Dad.

"What? She's not with you?" asked Nikki. I could see the wheels in her head turning.

"Yes, so you'd best start working on some crackpot story about how we're not fit parents," suggested Dad.

"Yeah, I'll get cracking on that," said Nikki snidely, thankfully departing. I exchanged puzzled glances with Lauren from across the table before she remembered that she was mad at me.

"Callie, where's Lauren?" asked Daddy, turning to me almost immediately. I did my best disconcerted shrug.

"Oh come on. You do know. You know where she hangs out, who she hangs out with, where she'd go to hide," said Mom. I tried to keep my gaze steady. It was difficult, because I did know. I knew exactly. Jenny would not hesitate to go to her boyfriend, Rhys, in such a situation. His parents wouldn't notice or care, her parents would never think to look seeing as they thought they'd broken up, she could spend several days away without steam blowing out of her ears. She'd done it before.

"Callie, if you don't tell us, Nikki might find her first. If Nikki finds her first, she actually has an argument in her favour. She could take Jenny away from us," wheedled Daddy.

"That's not fair-you're just saying these things so I'll feel guilty and tell you," I said. It was working. My mind was already starting to wonder what was more important-keeping my sister's secrets or keeping her from her mother.

"So you do know!" said Mom triumphantly. Lauren was looking painfully at me. She knew too.

"She doesn't," spoke up Lauren. Daddy half turned his head to look at her.

"So you know." Lauren quickly shook her head and he turned back to me.

"Jenny's been gone a day already. Even in a more normal situation, without a whore involved you should be obligated to tell us," said Mom.

"Stop it," I warned.

"We know she's not at the Scott's, we already looked in to that. So where else could she be?" asked Mom.

"Rhys'," I blurted out, my tongue once again ahead of my heart.

"She's still with him?" burst out Daddy in a similar fashion.

"Yeah, and there's nothing you can do to keep them apart. They're in love. So stop trying," said Lauren in exasperation.

"Are we being Deb and Dan?" asked Mom of Daddy.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Oh-after Nathan and Haley got married, Nathan's parents tried very hard to keep them apart," explained Mom.

"Where does he live?" asked Daddy, turning back to me. I thought hard for a moment.

"Tell you what. I'm not going to tell you. So if you promise you won't tell Jenny I broke her promise, and shut up for once about Rhys, then I'll go, get her to come home, and we can all stop worrying," I said. Mom looked to be stifling a giggle.

"Fine," she answered before Daddy could say anything. He laughed and put an arm around her.

"You two are plotting, and I don't care for it," he declared.

"Get used to it," advised Lauren.

It took surprisingly little effort to convince Jenny to come home. She wanted to, underneath it all. And with luck, she was finally convinced of how much she should stay away from her birth mother.

_Author's note: I'm sorry this is so short, but I need to go to sleep. And don't feel guilty, because I love writing this. It's just that it's almost the end of term and my teachers are going crazy with the end of term projects (I'm in ninth grade). Argh! _

_And an announcement: I'm going away this weekend to Montreal so I won't be able to post any chapters, though it's possible I'll get one up on Thursday. By the way, how could 'People' magazine (which I don't own) POSSIBLY have Tyler Hilton on it? That's just so wrong! When they could have had Nathan!_

_Rant over. _

_A special spoiler! Stop reading if you don't want to know. Someone is pregnant…_


	30. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

"I got in!" squealed a voice from the front door. I ran downstairs, to where my big sister was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Where?"

"To Brown!" she exclaimed, flashing me a letter. I squealed, and we hopped and hugged some more.

"Oh, I'm going to miss you so much!" I said sadly, amongst our excitement.

"Oh, you too! I'm going to have to make new friends, I've never had to do that!" she said.

"You'll be fine, miss school spirit. Did you have a good day?" I asked as we walked into the house arm in arm.

"Yeah, you?"

"No. I stayed home. I've been throwing up all day," I admitted. She wrinkled her nose.

"Sucky. You know I'm late? I hate being late, it upsets the entire time when I'm waiting for it to happen," she complained. We spent a lot of time bitching about our periods, or lack thereof.

"Ew. I hate that, too. Isn't the pill supposed to make you regular?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I went off it. Weird reaction thing," she explained. I nodded.

"I should go on it," I said distractedly.

"Oh my God! You and Sawyer..?" she asked in excitement.

"Maybe," I admitted.

"Hey, I'm having a major ice cream craving. Come with?" asked Lauren, striding into the kitchen. Lauren, who couldn't hold a grudge for longer than a day.

"I'm sick," I explained.

"I'll go," volunteered Jenny. The two of them walked away together and Jenny began to tell Lauren about Brown.

I was going to miss her. In a tacky, Seventh Heaven type way, Jenny was my best friend. There was just over a year between us, and when we were little we'd been all we had. For better or worse, we were permanently melded together. She and I would always have each other to hang out with at parties, confide secrets, bitch about our parents. I didn't need someone who lived somewhere else, I had my Jenny. Even before I'd had Sawyer I'd had Jenny. Lauren had always been jealous of our relationship. She had every reason to be.

My feet led me to a shelf of photograph albums, and I picked up one at random. I smiled as I saw my parents-so young. And Jenny, with her hair long and curly before it had straightened, and my halo of blonde curls and my big smile. I smiled at the picture of too two year olds and a three year old at the park. We were playing in the sandbox. Daddy had taken the picture. Nathan was watching us play, his back to us, and Mom and Haley were posing together, each about five months pregnant. I dimly remembered that day.

We got older and older in the photographs. I saw Jenny with a mouthful of braces, myself starting first grade, Lauren with a homemade haircut. I smiled at a picture of Mom and Daddy on their wedding day. Why weren't Haley and Nathan with them? There was another picture of me, tiny and red after the cesarean.

I caught my breath as an older photograph fluttered out. It was taken in the early nineties. Two eight year olds had their arms around each other. One was a girl, the other a boy, but it was hard to tell. The boy was pretty and blonde. The girl had boy short hair, was wearing a loose t shirt and shorts and was grinning. The only thing that was feminine in her were her large, lovely brown eyes.

I flipped the photo over and the names caught my eye, in vaguely familiar cursive-_Haley and Luke_. Aunt Haley and Lucas Scott, they meant. That was Haley? She was so very girly, she always had been. And with Lucas Scott, who was such an ass. Had he been good back then? They looked like best friends. How long had that lasted? Could friendships like that ever really last? Mine hadn't.

"Hard to believe, isn't it," said Mom, walking into the room.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"They were best friends for years, like siblings. This was before Nathan came along, of course," she said.

"Why of course?"

"I guess Haley couldn't fit both of them in, and they didn't get along so well for a while," said Mom. I knew that history in part.

"And I guess the whole running away thing didn't help," I added.

"Never does. Hey, are you wearing perfume?" she asked, sniffing.

"Uh, deodorant," I said, looking at her quizzically.

"Huh, smells kind of strong. Doesn't matter. Oh, look at this!" she exclaimed. A pregnant, eighteen year old Mom looked at me from the photo, and equally pregnant Haley at her side. They both wore matching dresses.

"This was Karen and Keith's wedding," she explained.

"How many months along were you?" I asked, squinting.

"About five. You tried to come out that day," she told me.

"Really? What happened?"

"Oh, I had to go to the hospital and stay on bed rest. It was boring," she admitted.

"What happened with Laure?" I asked.

"Not much. Your daddy freaked out a lot, but we both survived," she said.

"He must have been nervous," I said.

"Yeah. He had a lot of trouble back then-after we got married we had love trouble, and he worried sometimes I'd pull a Nikki I think, and we always worried that Jenny would get taken away," explained Mom.

"You should have seen her apartment. It was awful," I said, shuddering at the memory.

"I can imagine," she said, kissing the top of my head and pulling me close.


	31. Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty-One

I paused in front of Nathan and Haley's house and stared at it.

It was beautiful. It was a big white house, quite unlike Peyton and Jake's equally large brick. It was smaller than the mansion I had shared with Antonio, but much more lovely and homey. Blue shutters leant colour to the house and the basketball court made it clear who occupied it.

I hesitated before entering without knocking. I wasn't as close to Haley as I was to Peyton, or as she was to Peyton. I hadn't been in years. It had been hard to be close to either of them, when we lived so far away and I had had so much to hide from them. It was easier now.

"Ha…" I started to say, noting how unfamiliar it sounded, even to my own ears. "Tutor Wife?"

"In the kitchen!" she called. With my scant knowledge of the layout of the house, I managed to find her.

"Brooke!" she said excitedly, hugging me. Smiling, I recalled how she'd hated me once.

"Hey," I said. She wiped her hand across her face. I noticed the red rim about her eyes and the slight puffiness of her face.

"Have you been crying?" I asked in surprise. She blushed and giggled self-consciously.

"A little. I was just looking at an old picture of Tess and Sawyer. They're so big now!" she said, tearing up again.

"Wow, someone's pre-menstrual," I commented.

"No. I haven't in… I'm not supposed to for… Oh, whatever. Back to you. Where have you been? Antonio's come here to look for you and Kylie. What happened?" she asked in concern.

"We kind of ran away," I admitted. Her brown eyes grew wider.

"What? Because of… Finally," she said.

"Surprisingly, not because of that. More because of him hiring a hit man to… Never mind," I said. She raised a carefully pruned eyebrow but nodded.

"I'm so sorry. Where have you been?" she asked. I stared past her to the window, into the backyard. The perfect green lawn, the beautiful patio.

"Mouth's," I said softly.

"He's going to kill you," she said in alarm.

"No, he's going to stay away from me," I said, sliding a from across to her.

"He's not allowed to see you, or Kylie? What about the pre-nup?" she asked, scanning the document that declared he wasn't allowed to come near his daughter or his wife and that a divorce would be granted immediately.

"He caved. He had to," I said. She cocked her head sideways, puzzled.

"What do you really want, Brooke?" she asked.

"I want him to go away," I said.

"I know. After that. Do you want… this?" she asked, casting a glance around her immaculate kitchen, the pictures of her healthy, beautiful kids and of her with her sexy, stable husband.

"Not with him," I said, taking in the sight hungrily.

"Then with who? Mouth? Just with Kylie? Or with Lucas?" she asked.

"With Mouth," I admitted.

"Yeah. Something's wrong with Luke. He won't talk to me," she said sadly. I thought briefly of the friendship of Luke and Haley before they'd collided into our world.

"I went to him, before I went to Mouth," I said softly.

"You never could make up your mind on anything," she said, smiling briefly.

"And that whole thing with Peyton-how could he have possibly done that?" I asked, shaking my head.

"I don't think he did," she admitted.

"What?"

"Think about it. Luke's messed up now, but he wasn't then. I don't know what he's capable of now, but back then he was just a kid, not one who would rape his best friend's wife," she said.

"Yeah. And Peyton would have told us if something had happened. Maybe not then, but it's been seventeen years since then," I said. Seventeen years. Half a lifetime ago, and it might as well have been a full one.

"Unless she wasn't aware…"

"You have to be aware. You can be knowingly ignorant, but it's impossible for that to happen without her not realizing afterward," said Haley shortly, interrupting me.

"I have to talk to him," I said.

"You do," she agreed. I hugged her and kissed cheeks before I departed at almost a run.

I pounded on his hotel room door with one fist. He was staying at the best hotel in town, at the penthouse suite. Basketball hadn't made him happy, but it sure as hell had made him rich.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!" I yelled into the room. After another minute, he answered it, clad only in a pair of boxers. After seventeen years, he still had an impressive pack. His eyes were reddish, he looked disoriented. He was completely hungover.

"I'm not here to sleep with you," I said quickly.

"I know," he said slowly.

"Can I come in?" I asked, after another tense moment.

"Luke, please tell me what's going on with you," I begged five minutes later.

"What?"

"Seriously. You sexually harassed me, you raped Peyton, what's up with you?" I asked.

"I'm an asshole. And I'm so, so sorry," he said.

"Yeah, I know. I wanted it as well. But Peyton?" I asked in exasperation.

"I… never did with Peyton," he said slowly.

"Bull."

"It's not! I just said that because…" he started.

"What?"

"Never mind," he said quickly.

"Luke…" I pleaded.

"Brooke, no," he responded. His eyes hardened, and I backed down meekly.

"Fine. But can you just talk to me? Explain what turned you into… this?" I asked, indicating his obvious drunkenness.

"It was…"

"A girl?" I guessed.

"Of course. We were in love. I finally got over Peyton. We were together for a whole two years," he said, apparently remembering fondly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

"Because I didn't want you to know. But it was great. We had an apartment together, we played basketball together. She had a bad family too, a really bad guy brother and distant parents," he explained.

"Then what happened?" I asked. Whatever it was, I knew instinctively that it wasn't good.

"Nothing. We were engaged, and I got back and one day she was just gone. Without a trace. She took every picture, everything she owned. And she never came back," he said.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"It was a long time ago," he said.

"Like that makes a difference," I consoled. Like it did.

"It was harder even than when…" he said, trailing off as he caught the look on my face. Then when Peyton had dumped him after he'd cheated on her with me. Then when Peyton had married Jake, he meant.

"Yeah," I said understandingly.

"How are you doing, Brooke?" he asked suddenly, after yet another moment of silence.

"I've been better," I admitted. "Hey, you know you still look the same?"

"I've been told. You look better," he said. I didn't.

"You're sweet. God, why are guys such jerks?"

"Me?"

"Antonio. He had his first wife murdered, you know?" I said. Lucas stared.

"That's not exactly what I expected to hear. But come on, you have Mouth now," he said.

"How did you know that?" I asked suspiciously. Had Mouth told him?

"Come on, you live with him."

"Yeah, but we're not… like that," I said.

"What, you mean you haven't…" he trailed off in surprise. After all, he knew me. "But the first time you guys ever got together, you…"

The first time Mouth and I had gotten together we'd slept together. But it was a long, long time ago.

"You know I love him, really I do, and it's good with him _because_ I do, but he's not really_ good_," I admitted.

"Well you are the only girl he's ever been with," said Lucas.

"Seriously?" I asked in surprise. We hadn't slept together in ten years.

"I don't know, actually, but you were the first. He doesn't even talk to me," said Lucas.

"Yeah, because I told him," I said.

"That..?"

"What you tried to do. I just didn't tell him…" I said, trailing off and blushing.

"You didn't tell him...?

"What I wanted just as much," I said, catching his gaze and holding it. Our eyes stared into each others for a long time as the years peeled back and left only Brooke Davis, cheerleader and Lucas Scott, basketball player.

He kissed me before I could kiss him and I kissed him back in desire. I'd missed Desire. Antonio Ososio had been attractive, but had stopped making me desire him when he'd started to abuse me.

Our hands were quick and remembered their way better than our minds did. He was easily assessable but it took more time for him to rid me of my shirt and bra and then my skirt.

With his knowledgeable hands and lips I came before he entered me and we completed what we'd started seventeen years previously.

"That was stupid," I said, hours later as we lay together in his bed.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"I mean, I'm in love with Mouth, you're in love with your mystery girl, I'm technically still married," I said.

"But…"

"And I lost my diaphragm, so I've had unprotected sex with two different men now, which is a big no no," I said.

"But how can something so wrong be so right?" he asked. I leaned over and kissed him.

"That too."

_Author's note: I hate to do this, because I like being a little mysterious, but here's a list to help you out._

_Callie: Throwing up._

_Lauren: Cravings._

_Jenny: Late period, off the pill._

_Peyton: Sensitivity to smells._

_Haley: Emotional._

_Brooke: Unprotected sex._

_Okay, so I know I'm being evil with all the red herrings, but it's fun. And to Nathen'sraven: Don't worry, this is just a setback. I'm following your plot. Oh, and I love your story._


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

"GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!" was the first thing I heard in the morning. The yell in Jenny's voice was what I often woke up to.

"I'm straightening!" answered Lauren.

"Straighten somewhere else!" retaliated Jenny. Happily I settled back into sleep, waking only when Jenny shook me awake and I hurried to shower.

I was grateful, that morning, that we lived in Tree Hill. If we'd lived elsewhere, I'd have to concentrate more as I drove my sisters to school. As it was, I didn't bother to focus while I turned down various roads that led us to Tree Hill High.

The environment at school was relaxed. It was May. Exams were over, seniors were about to leave and none of us were actually learning anything. Students came and went as they pleased, not caring about the light classes we had.

Jenny liked this. She had gotten into her dream school, all she had to do was live through five easy weeks before summer, in which she'd leave for the entire summer to be a camp counselor and then to Brown for her education.

I didn't know how she could be so relaxed. She'd gone back to calling Mom Mom, but her relations with both of them were still tense. Daddy was stricter with her than he'd ever been. Her relations with me, her supposed best friend, were more tense than they'd ever been and I wasn't even sure if she was back with her boyfriend.

I looked the other way, to my other sister. Lauren had gone all the way with her best friend's ex. Her best friend's! She didn't even appear remorseful. Tess didn't even appear to know. How could she do something like that? There had been times, even back at her age, opportunities had come along. Opportunities with attractive guys that could commit to me. Sawyer Scotts hadn't come along, but things that had seemed almost as good. At the time, at least.

The bell rang and the three of us dispersed into our first period classes. Mine was English.

Sawyer, coming in just as the bell rang, dropped down in the desk directly beside mine and smiled at me. I smiled coyly back and blushed as he admired me and I looked at his beautiful blue eyes.

We were brought back to harsh realities as the teacher began to drone about Gertrude Stein and hand back our quizzes. Ignoring the fact that he'd gotten a D, Sawyer took my hand that rested on the desk.

He brought it down onto my hip and began to massage it rhythmically. Glancing around the room, I gently pulled away my hand and felt a rush as his hand stayed and began to fondle my bare thigh. I transferred my hand to his own, and let it rest tantalizingly close to his belt.

His hand had slid higher still before he raised his hand an asked to go to the men's room. I waited three minutes before issuing a similar request and we met in the hallway.

He pressed me up against the wall of lockers and we began to kiss as though it had been months since we had, opposed to the day before. The now familiar feelings were lit in me as we began to kiss tenderly, our hands remaining stationary on each other's bodies.

"Miss Jagielski! Mr. Scott!" said a voice sharply. We broke apart. Mrs. Gregory, the librarian, was marching down the hall toward us. I cringed and Sawyer took my hand in his to comfort me.

A half hour later we were back in class, after each being assigned a week's worth of detentions and a phone call home. Shell shocked, I ignored his advances and pretended not to notice when he realized I wasn't in the mood and began to concentrate on his work.

Mom and Daddy both lectured me that evening, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, seeing as they both knew already. They let me off without punishment seeing as they school had already punished me, and even let me go out without suspicion when I said I was going to the river court.

He met me there when I'd already been staring out onto the river for ten minutes. I loved the river, especially in the evening. It was the border between the River Rats and the Hill Kids, the border between their completely different worlds. It reflected the moon in the evening, glittered with the sun in the long summer days. I'd grown up in the river court, the river forever flowing beside.

"Hey, want to play a round?" asked a voice from behind me. Sitting tall, I shook my head carefully.

"Okay. Your parents mad?" he asked, sitting down on the picnic table beside me.

"They were okay," I said softly.

"Yeah. Dad heard before I could tell him, so they had a chance to cool down before we could talk," he explained. I nodded again. "Hey, are you okay?"

The concern in his voice was honest. He cared about me, really he did. But I knew what I had to do.

"We can't go on like this, BJ," I said.

"What?"

"All we ever do now is make out. We haven't climbed trees, or played ball, or even talked since the road trip to Charlotte. Not really," I said.

"We do more. All the time," he protested.

"I'm not ready for this," I said. A tear leaked out of my eye. From beside me, Sawyer powerfully grasped my shoulders. I gasped as he turned me to face him and kissed me hard.

"That's all we are. I want to be friends."

"We can't just be friends, ever again. Now that we've seen what it could be, we can't go back to what we were," he said passionately.

"I won't lose you, and this is the only way not to," I persisted.

"Callie," he said, as I looked away, back onto the river. "Callie, look at me."

When I didn't, he gently took my chin in his index finger and thumb and persuaded my face toward his.

"Look into my eyes, Callie Jagielski, and tell me you don't love me."

I looked deeply into his blue eyes.

"I don't love you," I said dully. He dropped my chin.

"Both of us know we're going to end up together," he said.

"But I can't start forever tomorrow," I said.

"I can!"

"I'm seventeen!"

"You're a week younger than me!" he protested.

"Still too young," I said, jumping off the table and running to my car. I expected him to stop me, to change my mind.

But he didn't.


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

It was midnight before I could doze off, and when I did I had a dream so vivid that I couldn't manage to fall asleep for hours.

_I could see my parents, all my "relatives" and all my friends and their families. Everyone I knew in One Tree Hill and beyond was packed into a beautiful church. _

_I wasn't in the crowd. Neither was I standing with Sawyer at the front of the church with his father. I was above, looking down into the scene._

_The other me began to walk down the aisle. I knew I was here and not there, but it was unquestionably me, even with the veil. My white blonde hair was down across the backless white satin dress, the short figure was obviously mine. I walked, transformed by grace, eager to get to him._

_Sawyer took Callie's hand as she arrived and led her to the alter. Lauren smiled at her._

_Callie's veil was lifted and her face reviled. But suddenly she wasn't Callie. She scene jerked and her hair was up and dark, her face oval and her eyes wide and brown. My sister, Jenny took my place and the dream Callie vanished into thin air._

_The Callie hovering above the scene screamed, but no one heard her. Suddenly the familiar crowd became happier and expectant. Photographs hung around the church. Familiar photographs of the Callie and Sawyer childhood days. Callie was miraculously replaced by her sister in all of these. She was gone from the room, not even a memory._

_Suddenly Sawyer looks up, and meets my eyes._

_"I tried," they say. "It could have been us, but it's gone now."_

_Though he doesn't know the words, the meaning is clear. The dream Jenny in her wedding gown looks up and transforms again-into a face only recognizable from old snapshots and drawings, of eyes lined with eyeliner and big hoop earrings, a smirk on her face. I knew who she was._

I awoke in a cold sweat, shivering. The dream had been like nothing I'd ever experienced.Sawyer and the dream people, had all seemed slightly older, better looking than they were in real life.

What had it meant? Was my future gone with Sawyer, vanished into the river? I'd only meant to postpone it for a while. He understood that, didn't he? And what did Jenny have to do with anything? He said he didn't..!

My mind flashed to the dream Lauren. She looked so happy, she didn't even notice the change between her sisters. An image of her ran through my mind again-she was suspiciously round. _Oy…_

My gaze slid to Jenny in the bed opposite. She was wearing her traditional sleep wear-plaid pants and a tight camisole. Her hair was half spread across her face, giving her a beautifully mysterious look even in her slumber.

I glanced into the mirror opposite my bed. In the moonlight, my face was barely visible but I could see my mused, greasy hair, my dry skin. Compared to the dream me, in her wedding gown…

Where had I seen that gown before?

Why had no one cared?

The next day I was slightly cheerier. It would be okay. It always was. I'd shot Sawyer down a thousand times before the weekend at the beach house, but he'd never given up on me. He'd never give up on me, that was who he was. Sawyer loved me. He'd never trade in Jenny for me.

I washed my hair and face and made myself look as I always did.

The day didn't exactly start off badly. I got the first shower of the morning, Mom made pancakes and Daddy and Jenny were almost behaving like normal.

But it was all wrong. I didn't see Sawyer until third period, but I already had expectations of him. I expected him to stroke my hip until I went mad with desire. Thrust me up against some locker shelves and kiss me. Let him pull me to a supply closet and… I wanted to do that, too. All of those things.

But he didn't.

All day long he reverted easily back to the old days. He greeted me as his little sister, he talked with Jenny and Lauren as much as he did with me. He didn't even glance at my little white shirt, specifically chosen to make him look. He didn't even hint that he wanted to get back together. All his words of passion of the night before were silent as he acted as he'd acted our entire lives. Like a friend.

The worst shock came later in the day. Jenny had gone home early because of a last period spare. She'd hitched a ride with a friend, leaving me and Lauren with the car.

Jenny greeted us in the front hall, horribly changed. Her normal straight, shiny, medium brown hair, was dyed to a brown so dark as to almost be black. She wore silver hoops.

"What the hell did you do to yourself?" I demanded angrily.

"What, you don't like it?" she asked in surprise.

"I do," volunteered Lauren.

"You would!"

"What's wrong Cal?" asked Jenny in concern. She looked over my head to revaluate her new locks in the mirror.

"You look like..!" I burst out. How could Lauren not notice?

"Nikki?" she asked, surprised more than annoyed.

"Uh yeah!" I retaliated.

"You mean my druggie whore mother," she said, beginning to grow angry.

"For all the world," I spat back.

"God, what's your problem? Just because you can't cope with a boyfriend who actually cares about you doesn't mean you have the right to accuse people of things beneath them," she said angrily.

"How did you _know_ about that?" I demanded suspiciously.

"Gee, maybe because you've stopped making out on the lockers, gazing hungrily at each other and flirting non stop? You're not even best friends anymore. You know you've ruined your life?" she asked viciously.

"No, you have!" I exclaimed, walking briskly out of the room, throwing my hair over one shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Jenny five minutes later.

"You're just like her," I accused.

"My sex is free. Why are you being like this?" she asked again.

"You ruined my life!" I accused.

"By dyeing my hair?" she asked, thoroughly confused by this time.

"No, by..!" I trailed off as I realized that an accusation from a dream wouldn't bother her. But how in the dream she'd changed from herself to Nikki, and now with the dark hair… it frightened me.

"What?"

"Never mind," I muttered, hugging her briefly. She laughed hollowly.

"You're insane, you know that?"

"I think I love him," I admitted.

"Then go get him!"

"I can't," I said softly.


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Where are you?" I asked nervously into my cell, glancing shiftily around the room. The far off sounds of Mouth and Kylie reassured me.

"Mom's," said the voice slowly.

"How quickly can you get to your apartment?" I asked.

"Ten minutes," promised Luke, laughing.

"Be there, okay?" I said, hanging up. We didn't both to talk where talking wasn't necessary.

We met in exactly ten minutes at the now familiar bedroom of the penthouse suite.

His lips made contact with my neck before they briefly reached my lips, pausing slightly before exploring my body.

He was satisfying. He was handsome and muscular and even sweet in some moods. He was as lost and hurt as I was, and our meaningless sex helped us to express our feelings of loss. We both loved other people.

"I should go," I said, an hour later after we lay, exhausted, in each other's arms.

"No, stay," he protested.

"Hey, that sounds like borderline commitment," I teased.

"Ah, right, back to your family now?" he suggested.

"Mouth and Kylie, yes," I replied.

"Do you love him?"

"Yes," I answered truthfully.

"So why are you here?" he questioned.

"What, haven't you seen you?" I responded jokingly. He wasn't fooled.

"If that's all you wanted, you would have stayed with Antonio. But obviously it isn't. So what do you want?" he asked.

"I want to be happy again," I said softly.

"When were you happy?"

"With Mouth," I told him, standing and beginning to dress.

Kylie greeted me at the front door when I arrived and I hugged her happily. She was remarkably adaptable. Mouth kissed my cheek and asked about my afternoon, supposedly spent with Peyton. I lied easily and the three of us proceeded into the kitchen.

I was reading in the room I occupied when a knock sounded.

"Come in!" I called into the hall.

My daughter ran in and jumped up on my bed, soaking wet and wrapped in a towel. Mouth followed her, wet himself with his shirt off.

"Did you guys have a bath?" I asked.

"Yup. He promised to buy me an ice cream if I did," she said solemnly, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"Only way," he defended himself.

"Oh, I know. Kylie sweetie, it's time for bed," I said, hugging her. She kissed me and regretfully toddled off to her room.

"She's great," said Mouth, watching her leave. My gaze flicked to him, and I held in a gasp.

Mouth wasn't exactly Lucas Scott yet, but he was surprisingly built. His frame looked naturally slim instead of just skinny, his stomach muscles were prominent and noticeable. He had a light tan, and his arms were bigger than I'd ever seen them. He caught me staring.

"You look great," I said.

"You look… different," he said finally.

"I looked better as a teenager," I agreed.

"No," he promised.

He came to sit down beside me on the bed.

"We're officially getting a divorce," I said, as casually as I dared.

"It'll be good to be free of him."

"Will I ever be?" I asked, looking into his eyes.

"In some ways, yes," he responded slowly.

"I should have married you," I said, as I'd said so many times before.

"I always thought so," he said. I looked at him again. He looked tired. He'd had a full life.

"Why can't all guys be like you?" I asked.

"Sometimes I wish I could be like all those other guys," he said, quoting a line from so long ago. I smiled.

"Why? I'll be your date tonight," I promised.

I leaned forward and kissed him and our lips met for the first time in twelve years. The love flowed back to us. The unexpected, plentiful love that had surrounded us for years and still did. And always would.

With more practised movement, he climbed on top of me while we kissed. I reached to unbutton his pants, and he reached for the lace of my shirt.

But his hands stopped, and he pulled away.

"We can't do this," he said.

"Yeah, I know," I said, rolling away from him and propping myself up on an elbow, letting my still long hair flow down.

"I want to. I love you," he said.

"I love you too. But you're right, I'm still married," I said.

"Yeah. And one of us has to go tuck in ou… your daughter," he said.

"Let's both of us go," I suggested, slipping off the bed and taking his hand.

Kylie quickly feel asleep as we read her a bedtime story and helped her into her pajamas.

"Hey, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow," I informed him.

"You went last week," he said, confused. I blushed.

"Yeah, it's just that… never mind, it's not important. I'm going to bed," I said.

"Okay. Good night," he said, kissing me quickly before I departed.

_Author's note: Short again, I'll try to work on that. But anyway, the episode tonight! With the weird messed up world, so good! And did you guys see the trailer for next week's? Looks even better! Now I have to stop being so disgustingly girly and go to bed. But you know this story is now longer than Sacrifice? But Sacrifice only took me a week… remember the good old days? Thanks for reviewing, and keep at it!_


	35. Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Callie!" came a voice from behind me. I swiveled, and caught sight of John Fenning running toward me. I smiled slightly and beckoned.

"What's up?" I asked him as he fell into step beside me.

"Oh, not much. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Want a ride?" I asked, as we reached my car.

"Sure," he said, climbing into the passenger side.

"So, how are you really?" he asked, after a pause of several minutes.

"Sawyer and I broke up," I said briskly.

"Why?" he asked. As though he had the right.

"It was going too fast," I explained.

"What, for you? Because something was good between you two. You're the only girl he's never mentioned or bragged about. You mean everything to him," said John.

"Yes, for me. Come on, I'm seventeen. Doesn't anybody get that?" I implored.

"People would kill for what you got given to you on a silver platter at the age of two, Cal," said John.

"You're very deep, you know?" I said, meeting his eyes in the mirror. He smiled.

"Yeah, so I've been told. So when are you getting back together?" he questioned.

"Do you even hear me?" I asked, slightly annoyed with him.

"Do you hear yourself?"

John's words rang through my head even after I'd dropped him off at his massive house and continued onto my own.

Jenny was AWOL, like she was so often. Lauren was ill, sleeping in her room with a basin by her bed. Mom was with Haley. Or Brooke, maybe.

But Daddy was in his office. I stopped and timidly knocked on the doorframe. He spun around quickly in his chair and smiled at me. We hadn't talked in months-I missed the relationship I'd had with my father before everything that had happened to ruin our lives.

"Hey Cal," he said, genuinely glad to see me.

"Hey Daddy," I said, going in to sit on his knee. I smiled at him. I loved my Daddy. He still looked about seventeen, down to the light sprinkling of freckles across his nose. He looked younger than Mom, though he was about three months older.

"We haven't done anything recently," I stated.

"That's true. It just that everything around here's been so different and Jenny's just been so… distant. I'm sorry, what do you want to do?" he asked. Both our eyes wandered around the room and mine hit the basketball that sat on the floor.

"Hey, want to play?" he said, stealing my thoughts from me.

I stared at it, letting the memories flood in to take over me. I remembered the time Lucas had shown-Sawyer, lifting me up high to make a slam dunk, how I so often messed up his free throws, how he'd taught me how to do granny throws when I was too small and unskilled to make it any other way.

"Yes," I answered.

We went out onto our court. I was wearing flip-flops on my feet and a small skirt with a white sweater overtop. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, much better off. He tossed the ball to me and I made a basket. For the next point, he stole it back from me and easily made it. We laughed and talked as we played. He beat me, but not crushed me. I was small, but the combined efforts of Daddy, Nathan and Sawyer over the years had made some impression on me, however small.

Sawyer Scott turned up as Daddy scored the winning basket. We both turned to face him, and Daddy turned to leave.

"Uncle Jake, wait," requested Sawyer. He looked pensive. Somehow forgetting our tumultuous weeks, I walked to him and took his hand. He squeezed. He was afraid.

Sawyer handed Jake a note he carried. Daddy read it, read it again. He handed it to me.

"How can she mean this?" I asked, a moment later. A year later.

"She can't," said Daddy.

"Where is she?" I asked Sawyer.

"Nikki's."

"Of course. Callie, you coming?" asked Daddy, heading for his car. My eyes met Sawyer, and for a sliver of a second we let ourselves look.

"Yeah," I said, tearing my eyes away and running to the car, pulling him with me.

We ended up at a seedy looking motel. Daddy easily found the door he was looking for and banged on it. How did he know which room?

Nicole Turner answered, looking triumphant.

"Jake. What can I do for you?" she asked, smirking.

"Give it up, Nikki," he said.

"I did, it's how she came about," she quipped.

"Funny. Where's my daughter?" he asked.

"Our daughter?" challenged Nikki. Their eyes met, and I wondered again how they ever could have been lovers.

"My daughter. Where is she?" he asked.

"Inside," she said. He pushed past her, and I and Sawyer watched from the door.

Jenny was sitting on a bed, working on a homework assignment. She looked up, unperturbed, when he walked in.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm eighteen. It's my right," she explained.

"But with her? Don't you understand what we've been telling you?" he demanded.

"You mean in the last month? Maybe I would understand, if you'd have been telling me all my life. As it is…" she said.

"You're punishing me," he said.

"You're very self centred today," she said.

"So what's your plan now?"

"It's simple. I'm here, I'll go to Brown in September and never have to see any of you again," she spat out. She met my eyes, and lingered in them for a moment. I smiled slightly at her, and she sent me the silent message.

"Go to Brown? How, may I ask? Now that you're so independent and all?" asked Daddy. I gasped almost inaudibly.

"Cutting me off. Boy, that's original. Nikki said she'd pay," she'd explained. I glanced at Nikki-for the first time ever, her face betrayed uncertainty.

"You do know how she earns that money, right?" asked Daddy.

"Not anymore," explained Jenny.

"How can you believe anything she says?" implored Daddy.

"How can Jenny believe anything you say?" asked Nikki, placing her hand on Jenny's shoulder.

"Jenny, come home," I called out desperately. She walked over to me and surprised me with an embrace.

"Callie, you'll always be my best friend, and I'm sorry about our relationship recently. But I can't stay," she said. I nodded reluctantly.

"Callie, we're going," said Daddy, surprising us all. With a last look at my sister, I followed him out the door.

"What was that?" I demanded as we walked back to the car.

"I want your sister to consider us her family again. For that to happen, she needs to understand what she can only learn by experience," he said tiredly.

"So you're just leaving her there?" asked Sawyer, speaking up for the first time.

"I'll bring it to Court if I have to, but that's a last resort. She'll come back," he said, his confident words betrayed with uncertainty.

"And you're cutting her off?"

"No," he said.

"Then…?"

"Jenny's my daughter. I love her, I'd never do that to her. Deep down, she knows this. She'll come back," said Daddy consolingly.

The three of us drove silently to the house. We all piled out in our driveway, and Mom came to meet us. She fell into Daddy's open arms and cried.

"This is my fault," she said.

"No," he said, half into her hair.

"She'll never come back."

"She will," I said, confident for the first time. I met Sawyer's eyes again.


	36. Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

_The day was sunny and warm. The noise of the park seemed far away from our hideout. It was a dream, but clearer than almost any I'd ever had._

_"We should get married when we grow up," said the higher, younger voice of the then Sawyer Scott._

_"Yeah. So we don't have to worry about meeting other people," a six year old version of my self agreed. _

_"We could live right here, in the park," he suggested. _

_"Good idea. But not until we're big-at least fifteen."_

_"Okay. Oh look, there's Mommy," he said, pointing to my Aunt Haley, who led tiny Lauren and Tess by the hand. _

_"She can't see us," I said, giggling._

_"I know," he agreed, laughing. His voice was different, but his laugh was the same. We peered down at her from the height of the tree._

_"Where's Jenny?" I asked, peering around the park._

_"She had to go to school, remember?" he asked._

_"Oh. After kindergarten is over we should run away so we don't have to go to the big school," I suggested._

_"Good idea. Hey, let's shake on it," he said._

_"On what, getting married or running away?" _

_"Both."_

_So we spat on our hands and shook._

I woke up from the vivid dream with a gasp. That had really happened, hadn't it? Our six-year old selves had sealed the deal before our hearts had had the chance to.

And we had run away later that year, too. Only we'd gotten about three blocks away, lugging my wagon full of necessities before we'd been found by Mom and Daddy and been convinced to come home. I hoped he didn't remember any of it.

The light outside my window was bright. It was the middle of the day, and my nap left me feeling groggy and disoriented. I still wore the outfit I'd put on when I'd woken up, and it felt clammy after being so close for my nap.

I changed into a new shirt, pulled my hair into a long ponytail and made my way down the hall.

I stopped when I heard my Daddy and Mom speaking. I peered through the railing-the staircase was in the opening room, Daddy's study was off to the side. They were in it with the door open, and I could see them perfectly from the correct angle. I clung to the wooden railing and strained to hear their conversation.

"I shouldn't have left her alone like that," said Daddy to Mom. They were sitting on chairs opposite each other, their hands held.

"It was the only thing to do. Jenny's almost grown now, she won't always do what you tell her to," said Mom.

"But Nikki! How could I leave Jenny with her? I mean, last time she threatened I went to jail for her," said Daddy.

"That was a long time ago. Jenny doesn't need taking care of, it means there's less danger," comforted Mom.

"Pey, Jenny would go out every night to God knows where if we didn't stop her. Now no one will stop her," said Daddy.

"Jenny isn't stupid," said Mom.

"No, but she's reckless."

"Jake, you know if Nikki had never threatened to gain full custody, we never would have gotten married, because we wouldn't have needed to put the trial in our favour?" asked Mom. I shivered-that was completely true.

"And Callie never would have been born. I love you so much," said Daddy.

"I love you too," said Mom. The ruby ring that had so long sat on her finger glinted.

"You don't know how it feels to hear you say that-there was a time I never though you would," said Daddy. He kissed her lips lightly.

"Don't you know me yet?" she asked teasingly.

"We'll get her back," he said, suddenly displaying the confidence he'd shown with Nikki.

"Yes. You're a good father Jake," said Mom earnestly.

"Some would argue that it's because my plentiful experience. You're a good Mom," he said. She was. He was, too.

"Where are the girls?" she asked suddenly.

"Callie's sleeping, Lauren's still sick," said Daddy.

"Poor thing. Poor Callie, too. She's going to be miserable until she gets back together with Sawyer," said Mom. I blushed, and bit back a retort.

"If she ever does," he said, grimly bringing a possible truth to light.

"She will. She's too much like me, hiding from what she wants," said Mom.

"How long have you known how in love they are?" he asked her. She laughed.

"Oh, since they were about thirteen," she said.

"Really? I didn't guess for about another year, when he started thinking he was in love with Jenny," said Daddy.

"And Lauren fell for him," said Mom.

"Lauren liked him? I thought they both knew about him and Cal?" said Daddy.

"We know them better than we think," said Mom.

This was true. They'd analyzed us better than we analyzed each other.

"Where did you go, after the whole prom thing?" asked Mom suddenly. He laughed.

"At a hotel a mile out of town," he admitted.

"So you were a half hour away the entire time, when I'd thought you'd left me forever?" she asked, playfully annoyed.

"I'd never have left you, I loved you. And you had Jenny," he said.

"And Callie," she added.

"Yes, but I didn't know about that one. That was the biggest shock of my life," he said.

"For me, too. I remember Haley had just gotten pregnant, and I was freaking out along with her and then it happened to me… I was hoping for a while that Cal would be a boy so her and Haley's baby could be best friends, but then it turned out that way," said Mom.

"I remember that. I kept having these creepy flashbacks-even though I knew you weren't capable of real Nikkiness. And then she made us so happy," he said. I smiled.

"Yeah. I never thought I was ready for her, and then a year later we tried again…"

"We shouldn't have bothered trying," said Daddy, laughing. Okay, ew.

"And then we had another girl!"

"Nate teased me about that," said Daddy.

"He's such a jerk."

"In a way. In an endearing way. He's a great father, a great husband, a multimillionaire. He used to be a jerk, back when we were on the team together," said Daddy.

"Like I don't know," said Mom. I recalled how they used to date.

"I liked you even then," said Daddy.

"Liar," she said.

"Well, I didn't know you, but I was impressed by how much deeper you seemed," said Daddy.

"Plus, I was gorgeous," added Mom.

"Still are." They kissed again.

I crawled away as they began to speak of Jenny again, and ended up in Lauren's room. She was sitting weakly back on her pillows, the basin still at her side.

"Hey, what's up kid?" I asked, coming to sit on her bed.

"I feel nauseous," she said.

"Poor thing. Rest of your life going okay?" I asked carefully. We walked on eggshells because of the Jason Winters thing.

"Yeah, it's good. It sucks having to hide my relationship with Jay, but at least I have it," she said.

"Good," I said slowly.

"You're a terrible liar. How's Sawyer?" she asked.

"We broke up," I said shortly. Suddenly and inexplicably she began to cry.

"You have to be together!" she cried.

"Calm down sweetie! How are you more emotional about this than I am?"

"Because you hide your emotions. But you have to get married some day!" she said.

"I'm seventeen!"

"So? Haley was sixteen!" she countered.

"Haley ran away!"

"Then she came back," reminded Lauren.

"Yeah, well, sometimes they do. Besides, Sawyer is probably having sex with someone else this very minute," I said.

Lauren sent me a scathing look. It was disconcerting, being completely transparent to my baby sister.


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

For the hundredth time that evening, I smoothed back my hair into the French twist that Lauren had created. For the thousandth time that evening, I glanced sideways at Sawyer.

For the thousandth time that evening, he wasn't looking back.

I focused my attention again on the stage in front of us. Eighteen year olds marched across the stage in a long stream of billowing black robes.

I paid more attention as they reached the J's. Jenny walked proudly across, accepted her diploma, shook hands with the principle. Her eyes flicked to us, she smiled, and then she seemed to be angry about her eyes betraying her and she looked down at Nikki, several rows ahead of us. I stared down, terrified at what her glance meant.

"Jenny!" I called, a half hour later, when the graduates and their families were milling across the green lawn of Tree Hill High. She turned to me, away from Rhys, and smiled.

We met and flung our arms about each other, talking in an incomprehensible flow of words.

"We miss you!" I said, as soon as our chatter had died down slightly.

"I miss you," she said. All of you, she didn't say.

"Come home," I begged.

"I can't. You know I can't," she said. She glanced over my shoulder, and her eyes widened.

"Hello," she said. I spun around and came face to face with Sawyer Scott, his family and mine behind him. He hugged Jenny.

"Jenny, good job," said Daddy stiffly, sticking out his hand. Mom pushed past him and hugged Jenny. A surprised Jenny allowed her to. After Mom, Sawyer and Jenny hugged. Jenny met my eyes over his shoulder with an odd, piercing look.

"Congratulations," said Haley, smiling at Jenny. She took Nathan's hand. On her other side looked Tess, seemingly bored. As Lauren joined her, she whispered something in her ear and they both giggled.

A feeling of pity for Tess overwhelmed me. I didn't even know if her and Jason were officially still even together, but whether or nor they were she didn't know how he'd betrayed her, how her best friend in the world had betrayed her.

Tess caught me looking at her and smiled awkwardly. She was tall, like her father, but very slim. She had her mother's large and lovely eyes and complexion, but the darker hair of her father. She was the two of them blended into one.

I glanced back at Sawyer, who was finally looking at me. He cleared his throat, as if about to say something. We were on the edge of the large group, almost away from them. He could speak without them hearing. I waited with bated breath for what he was about to say.

"Callie!" came a voice from behind me. We slipped out of our own world and into the real, harsher one. I cringed as I recognized John's voice. Sawyer did too, and sent me a look of slight disgust before joining the crowd and congratulating Jenny again.

"Hey, you have family graduating?" I asked listlessly, staring at Sawyer again.

"My brother," he said, indicating to a tall blonde boy.

"You just ruined everything," I said, half joking. We wandered off together.

"Sorry about that," he said, glancing back at Sawyer.

"That's okay. It's not like we're lacking in opportunities," I said.

"Yeah, it's just you that's lacking in going for them," he said. I considered playfully slapping him, but I was worried what it would look like to Sawyer.

"Shut up."

"You shut up," he said.

"Okay, bordering flirt territory. You know we have to start worrying about university and our life plan?" I said.

"Tell me about it. Guess you don't know where you want to go?"

"Far away from here," I said grimly. For the first time in my life, Tree Hill was smothering me.

"You mean you don't want to grow old here?" he asked, surprised.

"I know-Mom grew up here, her mother did, as did her's… but I don't want to look back at my life at seventy and see my mother's life," I explained.

"Peyton Jagielski has had a good life," he said.

"Yeah, but I'm never going to get married before nineteen, or have kids at eighteen, or give up a career for a boy," I said.

"People have an unfortunate tendency to end up like their parents," he said.

"I guess. I mean, Mom's parents were married young," I said.

"And Sawyer's parents," he said. I scowled at him.

"I don't like you anymore," I announced. I smoothed out my cotton sundress.

"Go talk to him," suggested John. I nodded and pecked his cheek before running back to my family.

"I miss her," I told Sawyer, five minutes later. He followed my gaze to Jenny.

"I know," he said comfortingly.

"She'll come home soon, right?" I asked.

"She's got to."

"You must miss her too," I said, a darker tone edging into my voice.

"Callie…"


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

_Author's note: Callie and Sawyer are seventeen, Jenny is eighteen and Lauren is fourteen. I just realized I may have previously listed Callie and Sawyer as sixteen and Jenny as seventeen, but that was a mistake. It's June, taking place the same time as 'Sacrifice' only eighteen years later. And I might start making it more Jeytonie. I missed writing about them. And a spoiler was requested… I'll think about that and write one at the end of the chapter, if I remember. _

The passing of June unto July was less monumental than it might have been. Under more normal circumstances Jenny would have gone away to camp, symbolizing the last days she'd ever really live at home. With a heavy heart, I packed up her belongings and they stood in cardboard boxes all around the room, staring at me in the night like intruding strangers.

The Scotts abandoned us as well. Haley, Nathan, Tess and Sawyer left for their summer home in Maine. Most of my friends had gone to cheerleading camp, those who hadn't had gone on exotic vacations with their families in which they'd happily make out with non-English speaking hotties.

But I was stuck at home. And I had way, way too much free time in which to think.

It was worse when letters began to pour in-from Jenny, from my friends, but especially from Sawyer.

_Cal,_

_ It's fun, being here. You should have come with me. Why didn't you, again? Because you want to be miserable? Because you are, aren't you? I wish I was there to comfort you._

_I teach little kids how to swim and sail, which are the two activities I run. They're adorable. My cabin is girls about Lauren and Tess' age. You know who's here? The infamous Jason Winters. And Tess is coming for the second half of July, and she's in my cabin. This could get interesting. He's one of those boys who's so charming in grade nine that all the girls like him, because the other boys have no idea how to treat girls. The girls in my cabin are always talking about him, and I have to bit back all the things I know about him._

_How's good ol' Tree Hill? Anything exciting happen yet? Lucas Scott is still around? How's Aunt Brooke and Kylie? I wonder why she left Uncle Tonio? _

_I guess I might as well get it over with. How are Mom and Daddy? Have they cut me out of the will yet? Has Nikki been around? I miss them. Tell them I mi… Never mind, they know I miss them. Right? _

_I don't know what to do. I can't write them, or go back to them, it's too late for that. But Nikki's dangerous, even I know that. She's out every night, all night._

_I kind of went all the way with this guy. He isn't even a counselor here. I won't even tell you his name, because you'd be mad at me, but he's so very hot and a bit younger. Rhys and I kind of called it quits again before I left, but it's still sort of an unspoken agreement that we don't sleep with other people while we've "broken up". So do me a favour and forget this last paragraph._

_I miss you sweetie. I keep imagining you in our big house, all alone. Lauren's off being a party girl, right? I'm starting to feel guilty for leaving you all alone… It's a good thing you have only a year left of high school. Come to Brown with me, forget about Sawyer and fall in love again. You're in desperate need of it._

_My hair dye is fading. It's almost back to my old colour, which I don't think is nearly as exciting. But living with her really makes me less excited about excitement._

_I really have to go now. I'm supposed to teach some eight year olds breast stroke._

_All my love,_

_ Jenny_

I thumped the letter angrily against the pool deck. It was a long, newsy letter, but she'd waited almost a month to send it, during which I'd sent her two letters. And how could she lecture our little sister on promiscuity?

My hands trembled as I slid the next letter carefully out of the envelope. As I did, I opened it and smiled at the familiar round writing.

_Dear Squirt,_

_You wouldn't believe how little there is to do here. I mean, there is if you want to be a tourist, or if you haven't been coming every year since you were eight. Tess finds plenty to do-she has this big group of friends here, and they hang out on the boardwalk all the time. I'd be more protective of her, but there's not one guy among them who's anything like a smooth operator._

_How are you guys doing? We stopped in to visit Jenny on the way here, she's doing good, said to pass on a 'hello'. _

_I'm going to basketball camp in a few days, so I won't be back in Maine until the last two weeks of August. Sorry if I don't get the chance to write to you. Next year's going to be crazy, if I want to get a basketball scholarship._

_Sorry to cut this short, but Mom's calling me. She and Dad were at the beach all day together._

_Your Best Friend,_

_BJ_

He'd even been careful not to sign it with love. I was surprised he didn't mention all the girls he'd hooked up with at the beach.

I stared into the blue water in which my feet dangled. This was shaping out to be the most pathetic summer of my life.

_Author's note: This won't be a very detailed summer._

_Spoilers!_

_Be prepared for our favourite couple to get **closer** than they've ever been._

Nathan and Haley will be featured more very soon, but don't take them for granted.


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

_This chapter is dedicated to Nathen'sraven. She's a big help with this story and we always swap plot lines. And a lot of the stuff here on out she helped me out with. Especially the whole "who's pregnant?" thing. The plot with that, which starts soon, is my writing but completely her influence._

"I'm not going," I insisted for the third time.

"Where else are you going to go?" asked Mom, rolling her eyes.

"I'll stay with one of my friends!"

"They're all away right now! And you can't stay with the Scotts because they're who we're going to visit, Brooke's dealing with her divorce and really can't afford a distraction, Karen and Keith are going to the Dominican," recited Daddy.

"Then I'll stay here! I'm seventeen," I reminded them.

"What's so bad about it, anyway? You can't stay here, so why not go to Maine and tan on the beach for a week?" challenged Mom.

"You know why," I snarled.

"So you're going to hide from him? Sawyer Scott has been your best friend your entire life. Haley has been one of my best friends since I was sixteen, and I practically grew up with her husband," said Mom.

"So?"

"So if we want to go visit them, it's not just about you and Sawyer and your breakup," finished Mom. I winced.

"Okay, so you go. I'll stay," I said.

"You're not staying by yourself for a week. One measly week in a huge beach house-how bad could it be?" asked Daddy. I rolled my eyes in response.

An hour later I was resentfully packing my suitcase.

I threw three t-shirts in. Four camisoles, a blue halter and a tube top. Three skirts and four pairs of shorts. Two of my best jeans.

Along with the two skimpy string bikinis, I forced myself to pack a more modest black one. I selected my two best cotton sundresses, found four pairs of sandals, and headed to my pajamas drawer.

It was neatly divided into two sections-flannel, warm, practical things, and the silky nighties I spent too much money for at the lingerie store at the mall. I ran my hand across them-lingerie was one of my guiltiest pleasures. I carefully picked three out three of them and added them to my growing pile of clothing.

Lauren giggled as I met her in the hall, lugging my suitcase behind me. She was toting a small bag, about a third the size of my own. I wrinkled my nose resentfully at her-she was 5"7 and dwarfed me by several inches.

Daddy loaded my suitcase into the back of the taxi we'd hired to take us to the airport. Mom squeezed my hand as I passed her, but I shook her off. They'd never been so low as to make me go on a holiday I didn't want to go on. And I knew, that despite what they said about wanting to spend some summer time with their best friends, they had an ulterior motive-to get Sawyer and me back together.

I stared out the window of the plane. Summer was almost over. The most tedious summer of my life was drawing to a close. Soon school would start again, and I'd be pushed towards Sawyer Scott daily for a year until we departed for hopefully opposite ends of the country. I'd just spend sixty days lounging around by the pool and watching reruns on the WB. _I should have gone to cheerleading camp._

We rented a car once we reached Maine and drove to the small, seaside town of Summerside.

The Scotts poured out of the house as we pulled up. Haley and Nathan ran out, hand in hand, closely followed by Nathan's mother, Deb. Tess ran to greet Lauren and the two shrieked and hugged as Lauren jumped out. Sawyer followed slowly.

I strived to keep my stare off of him. He wasn't wearing a shirt. He wasn't wearing shoes. He had a perfect tan. He looked good. He looked _much better._

He shook hands with Daddy and accepted Mom's hug before he got to me. I stared into his dark blue eyes and smiled slightly.

He enveloped me in a hug and pulled me close to him. Catching my breath, I inhaled the scent of him as the familiar feel of his arms around me came back to me. I felt him kiss my hair, imagined him smelling it. An almost forgotten feeling rose inside my breast.

Haley led the four of us into the house, chatting animatedly. She led Mom and Daddy to a vast first floor bedroom, Lauren to the one opposite Tess'.

She, Sawyer, and I ascended the worn wooden steps to the third floor. Sawyer disappeared into one of the two doors. I glanced around the hallway-it was short, only the two doors, and there was a wide window with a window seat at one end. I looked questioningly at Aunt Haley as she gestured toward the other door.

Hesitantly I opened it and walked in. A large bed occupied much of one wall. Two glass doors to a balcony with a seafront view were opposite me. A bureau and small sitting area completed the large beautiful room.

"You planned this, didn't you?" I said accusingly.

"You know that I love you, right?" she asked. I nodded slowly. Haley had been around my entire life.

"And I like the people I love to be happy," she finished.

"I don't need your son to be happy," I said, rudely. To my relief, she smiled again.

"It's not a bad thing," she said.

"A little bit."

"Do you love him?" she asked, sitting down beside me on the bed.

"I don't know," I whispered.

"Do you want to be with him?"

It was time, finally, to admit.

"Yes."  
"He wants you to Cal. He's been moping around for the entire summer, even the time we was at camp, most likely. He's never had to live without you in his life," she said.

"How do you understand?" I questioned.

"Can I tell you a story?" she asked, after a pause. I nodded slowly.

"I was best friends with Lucas my entire life. I didn't need anyone else, neither did he. We were like siblings. Then in junior year, he was in the basketball team and he started kind of being one of the popular kids. You see, Nathan Scott didn't know I existed. I thought the world would be a better place if he hadn't existed. Anyway, Nathan got really jealous of Lucas, who he thought was trying to ruin his life. So Nathan did all these things to try and hurt Lucas, which didn't really work. So eventually he thought of a different tactic," explained Aunt Haley.

"What was it?" I asked, holding my breath.

"To make me fall for him and then hurt me," she admitted.

"Nathan did that?" I asked, stunned.

"Yep. Then he ended up falling for me for real, and we fell madly in love and got married in the middle of our Junior year," she said.

"So why are you telling me this?"

"After Nathan and I had been married for only a few months, we drifted apart a little. My music started to mean a lot more to me, and he started to worry that he wasn't enough for me. I met this guy, Chris, and I kissed him a couple times because I was so confused about Nathan. Then I went away on tour for a year. But when I was gone, Brooke kept me informed of Nathan and the town while everyone else stopped speaking to me, even your Mom. She told me how miserable Nathan was. And I was miserable too, even though I was living out my dream. So Peyton and Brooke came to see me because Peyton was freaking out, and I went home with them, and Nathan and I got back together and the both of us basically lived happily ever after," she finished. I absorbed her story.

"Why was Mom freaking out?" I asked eventually.

"Well, because Jake asked her to marry him," she said slowly.

"A bad thing?"

"She was eighteen," explained Haley.

"I'm never going to get married young," I said definitively.

"Don't be so sure. It's in your blood, kid," she joked.

"Funny. So basically I have to go back to Sawyer so we can live happily ever after? What if I want to live happily ever after with someone else?" I asked defiantly.

"Do you?"

"No, of course not," I said, sighing and flopping backward onto the bed.

_Author's note: Okay, start reviewing again! Pleeease. Here's a spoiler for you-_

Callie considers going back to Sawyer, but changes her mind when she finds out what he's been occupying himself with. Or who he's been occupying himself with.


	40. Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

I settled into a routine, one that wasn't particularly amusing, but at least livable.

I'd wake up every morning at eleven, creep into the shower in hopes of avoiding Sawyer in my towel, have breakfast with him and Lauren (Tess was an early riser) and go out to the beach to hang out with the group of temporary friends I'd made.

We were all of slightly varying ages, from about fourteen to eighteen. We were all jocks or cheerleaders. We were clichéd beautiful people that hung out on the beach all summer because we had absolutely nothing better to do. We bitched about our tans and flirted outrageously, we played beach volleyball in skimpy bikinis.

I was half-heartedly making out with a blonde boy, Jesse, the day that my life changed forever. We were in semi-darkness on the beach, for once not surrounded by the usual horde of other blonde people.

I glanced at my watch over his shoulder.

"Oh, we have to go," I said, pulling down. He got up onto his forearms.

"Now?"

"Yeah, we said we're supposed to meet everyone on the boardwalk," I reminded him.

"Can't it wait?" he asked.

"Jesse, I'm not having sex with you," I told him. He rolled away and allowed me to get out from under him. I smoothed out my white and red sundress.

"Are you a virgin?" he asked finally. I glanced irritably at him.

"Yes."

"Oh. I thought you and Sawyer…"

"He told you that?" I said sharply. He shook his head.

"No. It's just what everyone thinks. Come on," he said. He took my hand and led me to the place we always met our friends in the evening.

We talked and laughed, being as cool as people ever were in the town-much smaller than even Tree Hill. Someone passed around a joint.

"Hey, look," said Sawyer, gesturing to his right. I looked. An abandoned basketball court came into sight.

"You play?" asked a tall, busty, dark haired girl.

"I can hold my own," he said flirtatiously.

"Let's play," spoke up another of the girls. She was small, like me, but a couple years younger. She was pretty in a not so obvious way, with dark hair and vaguely familiar blue eyes.

"You got game?" asked Sawyer of her.

"Yeah," she said in slight annoyance. I giggled at the obvious rejection.

"You playing, Cal?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. I nodded slowly.

We quickly assigned teams. Sawyer and I, along with a girl I knew, Sandra, and a boy, Kevin, were against the blue eyed girl, Jesse, and two others. The rest of them took to the stands, passing around bottles of beer and cigarettes.

Sawyer won the thing with the ball in the beginning, and passed an easy shot to me. I dribbled for a few feet before glancing over my shoulder at him. He ran to me, and lifted me up by the waist so I could make the shot. The entire group cheered as I did so.

The girl and I met in the middle. Sawyer dropped the ball in front of us, and she easily got it. She sent it toward the net from well beyond the three point line, and it made it in. Sawyer looked at her, obviously surprised.

I lunged for Jesse and jumped on his back as soon as he was near enough to take a shot. He allowed his free hand to roam my upper thigh, and I slid off him in disgust, losing my balance in the process.

I fumbled three steps backwards before I ran into something solid. Hands gripped my shoulders, steadying me. I turned around slowly to face him. His hands stayed on my shoulders.

"Thanks," I whispered. He nodded, and released me as he took the ball in his hands.

Jesse was tall and strong, with the build of a basketball player, but the girl was the real competition. She was crafty and skilled, and it took a surprising amount of Sawyer's vast skill for us to win.

I charged at him when at last we'd won, into his waiting arms. It was so familiar. We'd always done this. He spun me around and set me gently down as the crowd whistled.

"Good game," said Sawyer, shaking her hand. I shook hers next.

"That was incredible. What's your name?" I asked.

"Lucy Wheeler," she said briefly. "Yours?"

"Callie Jagielski."

"He's your boyfriend?" she asked, indicating Sawyer.

"No, just a friend. Why, you like him?" I asked.

"God no. How old are you?" she asked.

"Seventeen."

"I'm just fourteen," she said, looking almost embarrassed.

"Okay. Where do you live?" I asked, getting on with the list of mandatory questions.

"California."

"Cool, I live in North Carolina," I told her. She nodded, seemingly uninterested.

"Let's play truth or dare," suggested the same busty dark haired girl.

"What are we, twelve?" asked another boy, sounding game despite this.

We began to play, dares made up mainly of making out with a stranger, truths of how far we'd gone.

Lucy spoke up after she'd completed her dare of flashing the most attractive boy her age.

"Sawyer Scott. I dare you to… kiss Callie," she said. I whipped my face around to look at hers, and she winked.

"Sawyer's not going to…"

"As if," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder to turn me to face him and covering my mouth with his.

It took us about half a second to sink in to the kiss, to fall back to our old habits and desires. His fingers roamed my lacy bra strap, mine traveled tantalizingly down his back. I became vaguely aware of the whistles of the brainless pretty people around us, but I didn't care particularly.

My other hand somehow wound up caressing his neck. As his went around my waist, we were pressed completely together, like the day in the library.

He pulled away, surprising me.

"Are you going to leave again?" he asked.

"No," I said in confusion.

"You're sure? Sure you're not going to change your mind in five minutes and drag my heart through town?" he asked.

"Why are you being like this?"

"You know what I want, Callie Jagielski. And I thought you I knew what you wanted. But apparently, you need a little more time to sort out your priorities," he said harshly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I said angrily.

"I can only take so much," he said, giving me back my wrist and departing in a rush.

I couldn't follow him. My pride wouldn't allow me to. But apparently, I'd already damaged his pride beyond repair.

I hung around with my friends long enough to avoid suspicion before leaving.

I silently eased the door open and crept into the dark beach house. I tip toed past the open door to the dining room, but was stopped, suddenly, by a voice:

"You really think we'd go to bed?" asked Haley Scott. I looked into the room-the four of them were sitting around a table, accompanied by an open bottle of wine, the lighting dim. I blushed.

"Sorry."

"Sawyer's not back yet, is he with you?" asked Uncle Nathan.

"No, I haven't seem him in a while," I said.

"I'm sure he'll be in soon," said Mom, analyzing me with her eyes. Suddenly I was worried she knew what had happened.

"I'm going to bed," I said. I entered the room and bid goodnight to the lot of them before departing for my room.

I stopped at the top floor in the familiar hallway. It was the last day in Maine. The time had come to make a choice.

I could go into my door. Continue on the way I had been with Sawyer, missing him and resenting everything I heard about him and other girls.

Or I could go into his room. Wait for him, do everything with him, trust him with my heart, accept that he was the only one for me.

It was a scary thought, the thought of so much trust. If I entered his room and his bed, there would be no backing out. The deal would finally be sealed. I'd be his and he'd be mine.

The door of my room beckoned to me. It was the easy way out. There was no easier. And Sawyer and me would happen eventually either way, that was fairly undeniable. Did I want to use my time as I'd been using it, hooking up with random hot guys who did nothing for me? Wanting Sawyer to come and be protective so he'd at least look at me?

Did anyone in the world really know what they wanted?

The better side of me won. I turned to the left, opened the door. It took a long moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, to the obviously empty bed. I slipped my sundress of my shoulders, carefully placed my bra and underwear in the same pile. Fumbling, I made it to the bed and carefully sat down in the centre of it, wrapping the covers around my body.

When he came in, a half hour later, I was ready. In the darkness, our eyes met in confusion. He took a hesitant step toward me.

"I want you," I said simply. He came closer.

_"I love you," he promised._


	41. Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty-One

He was still asleep when I awoke, but his arms were wound around my upper body to the extent that I knew if I stirred he'd awaken.

I didn't mind. I'd waited for a quarter of a year for this, in some unconscious way I'd waited my entire life.

He'd waited longer, I expected. The way his arms were on me, even in his sleep, the things he'd said to me during the long night we'd spent together.

Very together.

I blushed at the thought of it all. Once upon a time I'd promised myself I'd wait for marriage. That was what had kept me from doing everything during the weekend at the beach house, and again at the night at my house before Daddy had discovered us. Now I'd done everything I'd lectured Lauren about only months ago. What kind of person was I, to sleep with a boy who hadn't been my boyfriend in almost four months?

Sawyer stirred, and for a brief moment his hold on me tightened as if in surprise at my presence. He exhaled sharply and yawned.

"Good morning," he said, kissing the nape of my neck softly.

"Hey," I responded, rolling to face him.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Surprisingly yes," I said honestly.

"Surprising?" he asked, pretending to be offended.

"It isn't often I spend the entire night with another person in the same bed," I quipped. He laughed.

"I'm not used to having you in my bed, either," he said.

"It's been a while."

"Too long," he agreed.

"Why did you ignore me like that? You were so persistent before," I said.

"A guy can only take so much. And I knew what you needed," he said simply.

"Yeah, much more so than I did. What if you'd been wrong-what if without your… wooing, I guess, I'd never gone to you?" I asked him.

"I had a few plans up my sleeve," he admitted.

"Good. I would have liked those," I said.

"Well, let's hope you'll never have to hear them," he responded.

"We should get up," I said reluctantly.

"No, stay."

"Have to go. Soon Haley will come in here and… kill me," I said, disentangling myself from his strong grasp and hopping onto the bare floorboards.

Blushing, I ran across the room to retrieve my discarded clothing. He watched me as I did so, as though surprised I'd entered his bed so completely willingly at all, let alone unclothed.

I put back on the wrinkled sundress to creep across the hallway. I breathed as sigh of relief as I reached the safety of the room I occupied.

"Where the hell have you been?" asked a voice from across the room. I shrieked in surprise, and spun around to face it. Mom was sitting calmly on my bed, her legs crossed.

"Um, I stayed out all night," I said. A bad thing to do but in some lights, according to teenage parents, it was so, so much better than what I'd done.

"You did not," she accused.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, trying hard to keep the stiff look on my face.

"You've never done before," she reminded me.

"Well, never say never," I said lightly.

"You know, maybe I should believe you. Because staying out all night would be a stupid teenager thing to do. But I don't, because I know you don't see the value in it. And I also know that as much as you hate to hear this and you're never going to believe it, but I wasn't a kid that long ago. So do you want to tell me the true story before I guess? Because I have a pretty good idea," she said, glancing accusingly at my rumpled sundress and messy hair.

"I was in Sawyer's room," I admitted.

"And..?"

"We're back together. We didn't have sex. Happy?" I asked irritably, lying through my teeth.

"Very. We're leaving in two hours, be ready," she said, looking more sad than angry as she left.

I was ready, two hours later, when we left, but Mom wasn't exactly pleased with me.

Sawyer and I had agreed to be discreet, so we didn't touch each other or even come close during the plane trip or the drive back to our houses.

Jenny was sitting on the front porch steps when we arrived and got out of Daddy's car. We all hugged her excitedly, forgetting that she shouldn't be there in the surprise of seeing her at all.

"I thought I'd come for dinner," she said uncomfortably, breaking the easiness of having her there. It flooded back-how she'd moved back, how she hadn't come home to visit all summer.

She helped Lauren and I lug our suitcases up to our rooms on the third floor and we all congregated excitedly in our room.

"Tell me about the guy you did it with," I demanded.

"Um, it wasn't important. He left pretty soon afterward-I think he regretted it," she said empathetically, staring guiltily at me.

"You're allowed to hook up with people," I said, tweaking her ear.

"So how about you tell us why you weren't in your bed this morning?" asked Lauren a moment later. Jenny gasped.

"Well, because I was in someone elses bed," I answered.

"You did! Finally!" said Jenny in relief.

"Yeah, we did. For a long time," I admitted, blushing.

"Aw, tramp! Was it awesome?" asked Jenny eagerly.

"Fairly awesome. I mean we'd already done the… before, coming type stuff but this time we did all that and the actual in the act stuff. It was perfect," I admitted.

"Your first time is supposed to suck," said Lauren, looking happy for me but almost jealous.

"Well, if you're not fourteen…" said Jenny in a singsong voice.

"Okay, okay. How was Jason?" she asked curiously. Jenny made a head jerking toward the hall as soon as she looked away.

"Um, Jenny, can I borrow a pad?" I asked.

"Sure. We'll be right back," she said smoothly as we walked off together.

We went into the bathroom that the three of us shared.

"Well, first of all, really need one?" she asked.

"Jen, I had sex last night," I reminded her.

"Um, right. Well it's my third day, but anyhow. I think Jason's not as devoted to Laure as she'd like to believe," said Jenny.

"You think he cheated on her?" I squeaked. "With who?"

"That's the thing. I have absolutely no idea, but I know it was someone, because I heard him bragging. He's really not such a nice kid."

"How can a boy go bad at fourteen?" I asked her.

"Fifteen. Bragging point for him," she said, stifling a giggle.

"We shouldn't laugh at this-she's going to be so crushed," I said worriedly.

"I thought they'd broken up?"

"Sort of. Not enough that he can sleep with other people-the whole 'we were on a break thing' you know?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning against a sink.

"Oh, this is bad."

"Yeah. And I lied to Mom about me and Sawyer. I should go on the pill," I said suddenly. She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, because that would really help avoid suspicion," she said sarcastically.

"Well! I can just say that I want to get more regular!" I responded.

"Callie, even I know your schedule. You've been doing this since the fifth grade, you hardy need to be more regular. You're going to need a better alibi," she said.

"I guess. So much for summer being relaxing, hey?" I said, suddenly tired of it all.

Author's note: Some of you may be confused about the ratings. I changed it to 16+ because I was planning a specific scene which I eventually axed, so I changed it back to 13+. I'm younger than sixteen, so writing like that would be a bit of a lie. So review please!


	42. Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty-Two

"Hey, look, she nodded off," said Jenny, giggling. I turned to look at Lauren, fast asleep on the bedroom floor.

"It's pretty late," I said understandingly. It was two o'clock in the morning on September third, 2022. The morning of the day that Jenny would board a plane to Rhode Island to attend Brown University. The day that for the first time in our lives, she was leaving me behind.

But of course we were still awake. We'd resolved to stay up the whole night, to commemorate the friendship we'd shared. It was as if our whole world was now split in to two-JH (Jenny at Home) and JU (Jenny at University.)

"Do you remember how we always used to play that game where you jumped off the swing and competed to get the furthest?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah. You always won. A while ago, Sawyer and I…" I halted. Sawyer didn't belong in the night with us.

"And how Daddy and Uncle Nathan would always try to teach us all to play basketball? All five of us?" asked Jenny, giggling.

"Yeah. Me and Sawyer against the three of you. We were pretty bad, even him," I said. There he was again, interrupting our sister time.

"I don't know, Tess could do a mean granny throw," said Jenny, cracking up.

"I feel bad for Tess. I love her, and I've grown up with her, but she's kind of excluded, you know?"

"You mean since her best friend betrayed her and you slept with her big brother?" she asked, giggling hysterically. I took the beer bottle from her hand and drank from it.

"Yeah. Who knew we'd all turn out like this?" I asked, suddenly more sober.

"Yeah. Well, we all knew about you and Sawyer," she said.

"Except for me."

"Oh, come on," she said, rolling her eyes. I innocently turned to face her.

"What? I didn't!" I said defensively.

"Not even a little tiny bit?" she teased. I blushed and shrugged. Maybe, at the back of my mind, it had always been there.

"Are you going to come home?" I asked her.

"Subject changer. And I honestly think I'm a bit too late," she admitted.

"That's not true! We all want you back Po," I said.

"Thanks. I've been out since noon and she hasn't called me yet," she said. Nikki, she meant.

"Why…?"

"Do I stay with her? Because I still can't believe all the lies they've been feeding us for seventeen years," she said bluntly.

"They want to change," I whispered.

"Some day, I'll shut Nikki out and never look back," she promised.

"Sooner rather than later. Please?" I requested.

"I'm going to miss you, little sister," she said. I began to tear up right on schedule.

"You too. I don't know where I'm going to get guidance from from now on," I said.

"With Sawyer?" she asked sleepily.

"Yeah. I'm really worried he slept with someone after we broke up," I said. She shrugged but didn't meet my eye.

"I hope he didn't, but it was three months," she said.

"A long time, for him," I said.

"Well, that's all changed now," she reminded me. I smiled weakly at her.

"I'm not good at dealing with change," I said suddenly. Jenny looked at me and raises a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"No," she said. "You're not."

"Like Sawyer it took us three months to really get our act together when we both fully knew, the entire time, that it was what we want," I explained.

"Yeah, because you're so insane. Is Mom still mad at you?" she asked. I smiled as the word 'Mom' slipped out so naturally.

"She's letting her guard down. Slowly." I sighed as I thought of how cold Mom had been to me since our fight in Maine.

"This is taking a lot out of her," said Jenny.

"It's hard on all of us," I said.

"Does Daddy know about you and Sawyer?" she asked.

"Only if Mommy told him. I know I didn't," I said. Daddy loved and trusted Sawyer, but he didn't truly trust anyone with his daughters.

"Well, you aren't insane," she said, giggling.

"So how are you and Rhys?" I asked curiously. She hadn't mentioned him yet.

"Over," she said shortly.

"What?" I asked, spitting out the mouthful I'd taken a moment earlier.

"Well, he slept with someone else, I slept with someone else, his someone else is pregnant and we think we're better off apart," she said bitterly. I always though she deserved better, but I'd never been stupid enough to say so.

"Oh my God," I said disbelievingly.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she said slowly, stumbling out of bed. I watched her as she got out of bed and went down the hallway to the bathroom. I flicked my gaze to Lauren, sleeping on the floor.

A shriek brought me out a light reverie and I leapt out of bed, thankful that the floors were soundproof and Mom and Daddy likely hadn't heard. I ran down the hallway to the bathroom and encountered Jenny, staring disbelievingly at a cardboard package. I squinted at it: _Predictor_ it stated in simple, bold writing.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked breathlessly. She nodded, eyes wide. She covered her hand with toilet paper and turned the box 45 degrees. An oblong plastic device tipped onto her hand. Both of our eyes went immediately to the tiny, plastic screen.

It had a red positive sigh, clear as day.

Both our heads turned slowly to the open bedroom door where our baby sister slept.


	43. Chapter Forty Three

Chapter Forty-Three

"Lauren Haley Jagielski!" screeched Jenny, running back into the room with me on her heels. Lauren stirred in her sleep and slowly sat up, clearly disoriented.

"What?" she asked.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded, holding the cardboard box an inch from her face.

"A pregnancy test," she said in bemusement.

"Yeah, a pregnancy test. And seeing as I'm on my period and Callie couldn't possibly know yet, seeing as she last did it about four days ago, whose else could it be?" asked Jenny.

"I don't know," she said, her eyelids fluttering.

"Come on! How could you not tell us?" I implored.

"Tell you what?" she asked suspiciously.

"That you're pregnant!" said the two of us together. Lauren's brown eyes grew wide.

"I'm not."

"You are too!"

"I'm not! Seriously I'm not," she said.

"Then who's is this?" I asked, still not believing her. No one else used our bathroom, it was very off limits to our parents.

"Gee, seeing as it's not mine, Jenny's, or yours, who's could it be? Daddy?" she said sarcastically.

"Mom?" said Jenny faintly, sinking onto the floor and putting her head on her knees.

"Mom's too old," I said quickly. Lauren looked in my direction and raised an eyebrow.

"She's not, not really. She had you when she was eighteen, me when she was twenty. She's only what now, thirty-five? It's a fairly typical age," said Lauren sensibly. I frowned.

"She can't be pregnant," I said again.

"Well who else could it be? If it's not one of us three, she's the only other possibility," said Jenny.

"But wouldn't they tell us, if they were thinking about it? It's such a huge deal!" I complained.

"They could have a boy," said Lauren, suddenly and ominously. The three of us, sitting in a circle on the floor, exchanged hurried glances. The fact that we were all girls had always been important to us, it being one of the main reasons we were friends as much as sisters. Sawyer and Tess weren't nearly as close as the three of us where. I took Lauren and Jenny's hand on either sides of me and they took each other's hands. We were all in need of comfort.

"She could be prettier than us, or more intelligent," I said.

"I thought we had decided it was a boy. But prettier? Than you?" asked Jenny sweetly. I smiled at her.

"Maybe we should talk to her…" Lauren suggested timidly.

"We can't do that. If we're wrong, we'd end up looking stupid, and if we were right, it would look like we had snooped," said Jenny.

"We did, a little bit," I admitted.

"We're going to have to do more if we want to find the truth," said Lauren. We all looked at each other again, and in an instant we began a team-fighting against Mom and Daddy and the secret they were keeping from us.

"How did our lives become so dramatic?" I asked.

"Mom says it was always dramatic for her," spoke up Lauren.

"Yeah, but people actually got married at sixteen then," I said, laughing.

"Come on, you and Sawyer totally will," said Jenny.

"We're seventeen already," I said, swatting her with a pillow. She grabbed it from me and slapped me back while Lauren grabbed another from my bed and threw it at Jenny.

There was time, always, to worry about the future. But thankfully, there was an equal amount of time to be sisters.

The next morning I left the house, managing not to see Mom in the process. Jenny was still asleep when I left, sleeping off sorrow and a slight hangover.

Sawyer greeted me on the front lawn when I arrived. He'd been playing basketball at their court with his father. Nathan waved as Sawyer jogged up to me and kissed me.

"You know, I'd tell you to get a room, but it's not really what I want for my son and his girlfriend," joked Nathan as we walked up to him, hand in hand.

Tess appeared then, walking slowly and awkwardly out of the house.

"Mom wants to see you two," she said, indicating Sawyer and me. We exchanged worried glances. "She's in her study."

The two of us walked into the silent, polished house and walked up the familiar staircase to the door of Aunt Haley's office. We knocked, and heard her telling us to enter from the inside.

She was looking down when we came, her face clenched.

"What's up Mom?" asked Sawyer, plopping down onto a chair in front of her desk.

"Why did you tell Peyton you didn't have sex when your bed sheets were bloody the morning we left?" asked Haley, looking up. Her hair was mused, and she looked deeply troubled.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't play games, Sawyer Brian Scott. The housekeeper called. She complained about bloody sheets on the third floor room, the one facing into the town. Your room, not Callie's," she said, looking at Sawyer and not me.

"Haley…" I said pleadingly. She look she shot me made me want to hide under the table, it was so full of pain.

"No! Why did you lie to us?" she demanded.

"We knew you wouldn't take the truth well," explained Sawyer. He reached for my hand and clasped it.

"We wouldn't but we'd kind of be forced to accept it! Seeing as the two of you were conceived when we were your ages, we were obviously doing at your ages. Speaking of which, doesn't your situation make you more cautious? You're living proof of effects of having sex! And you guys aren't even married yet!" she raged on.

"Yet?" I squeaked.

"Not the important matter right now. Are you safe?" she demanded.

"Mom!" cried Sawyer.

"This is important!"

"Rhythm wise," I mumbled.

"Rhythm? You're a fertile seventeen year old, losing her virginity and you use _rhythm?_ You do know how ineffective that is?" she asked.

"Like you're one to talk," spat out Sawyer. She looked at him, and suddenly her large eyes filled with tears. In an instant he was on the other side of the desk, hugging her and apologizing.

"I'm glad you weren't careful," he said. She wiped her eye with one hand.

"Me too," she agreed.

"So…?" I asked anxiously.

"So if you don't tell your mother, I will. What else do you guys hide from us?" she asked, weakening. Sawyer and I met eyes.

"Can you keep a secret?" asked Sawyer, sitting back down and putting his arm along the back of my chair.

"Of course."

"Well, Lauren and Jason Winters did it last May. Jenny broke up with her boyfriend because they both slept with other people and he got the other girls supposedly pregnant. Tess shows signs of a reconciliation with Jason. Brooke Davis is officially Davis again, and has been becoming more chummy with both Lucas and Mouth. And Nikki never, ever notices if Jen is out all night," I informed her guiltily.

"Wow. And I thought our day was dramatic," she said, sighing. Dramatically.

_Author's note: I recommend patience to those lacking in it. The pregnancy mystery will be solved in about… eleven chapters, but hints will be dropped continually. The mystery of who Jenny slept with will be solved in less chapters, perhaps seven. _


	44. Chapter Forty Four

Chapter Forty-Four

"Mommy! Door!" yelled Kylie from the ground floor. I moaned and sat up. It was about nine in the morning. Mouth hadn't woken me up-sometimes he did that, take care of Kylie in the morning so I had the chance to sleep in.

Slipping into my bath robe, I walked slowly downstairs as the doorbell sounded again.

"Callie! Hi!" I said awkwardly, embarrasses that she was seeing me with my limp, messy hair, my morning eyes. She smiled. I smiled back at her. Peyton's middle daughter really was beautiful, though she hadn't flaunted it as I had at her age. And she was different than me as well. In my teenage years I'd been gorgeous, pretty. But not the beauty that Callie possessed.

"Can I come in?" she asked after a moment.

"Sure honey," I said, leading her in to the living room.

"What's up?" I asked, five minutes later. She squirmed slightly, and Jake came out in her for a moment.

"Can I ask you a personal question Aunt Brooke?" she asked. Calista Brooklyn Jaigelski had my name-I regretted not being closer to her.

"Sure," I said easily.

"Do you recommend the pill or a diaphragm?" she asked. My eyes bulged out. Callie Jagielski, the queen of hookups that never went too far?

"What?" I asked weakly.

"Sorry, it's just that I can't ask my mom and I know it's not a good idea to trust guys with the whole condom thing so it's good to have a backup plan," she said, all in a rush.

"Well, I guess the pill is a hassle to take daily and can make you gain weight but the diaphragm can ruin the moment," I said, praying it never got back to my best friend.

"But they're how effective?"

"Well, I'm personally on the pill, and it's over 99 which I think is pretty good," I said, blushing.

"Okay, thanks. Can I go play with Kylie?" she asked breathlessly. I nodded and she almost ran out of the room.

I sat in the living room in confusion for a moment before rushing upstairs to groom so I could leave the house.

"Haley?" I called, letting myself into the house.

Sawyer came down the stairs, clearly having just woken up.

"I need to speak with your Mom," I said, slightly coldly. Stupid deflowerizer.

"Uh, she's busy in Dad's study," he said.

"Thanks," I responded, turning in to the small room.

Haley was astride Nathan on his desk chair, making out heavily.

"Guys! It's like ten in the morning! And I'd tell you to get a room, but you've been doing so for over seventeen years. Haley, I need to talk to you," I said.

"Remember when Peyton interrupted us with a frying pan?" asked Nathan, departing good naturedly.

"Yeah, pretending she didn't know what was going on," finished Haley.

"I think Callie and Sawyer are doing it," I said, as soon as Nathan had left the room, before she had a chance to ask me what I'd come about. She looked guiltily at me. "You knew?"

"Well yeah! I mean they lied to Pey so she still doesn't know, but I got it out of them. How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"Callie came over to my house and asked me to recommend birth control! And how can you be so calm about this?" I demanded.

"Birth control. She's not on it," said Haley, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, like you're one to talk. Haley?" I said in concern as she began to grow pale.

"Wait, Callie went to you about birth control and said she was too afraid to tell her mother? Brookie…" she said nervously.

"You don't think…"

"Well, her mother did pretty easily," said Haley, sinking into a chair.

"You think she's pregnant."

"With my son's baby!" she said weakly. I wrung my hands anxiously in front of my face.

"Peyton's going to kill her!"

"Jake's going to kill him!"

"Should we say something?" I asked.

"Maybe we're wrong," she said hopefully.

"All the signs point to it. I mean, they said they used rhythm as protection," she said.

"Kids."

"Why can't they be pure like you were?" she said, in the same fashion that she'd said "Brooke Davis-captain of the cheersluts!" sixteen years ago.

"Shut up. Unlike you…"

"Hey, come on! One pill! Not my fault that Nathan's… lusty," she said.

"Okay, gross. Anyway, back on topic. If she is pregnant, what are they going to do?"

"I don't know, get married?" she suggested.

"They're not you."

"But they're in love," she said.

"I was in love. It didn't save me," I said, looking away. I could feel her pitying stare upon me.

"Should I talk to her?" said Haley.

"Sure, if it means I don't have to," I said.


	45. Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty-Five

_I don't actually remember what reviewer it was that suggested I write this scene, but I didn't think of it, so here's to them._

The people of Tree Hill change, and their lives change drastically, but Tree Hill in itself never does and never will. Mom or Daddy always double-take when they see the river court, because it's exactly the same as it was seventeen years ago. Tree Hill High hasn't had renovations in twenty years. The cheers Jenny led every week were the same cheers that had been around for twenty years. Sawyer, Jenny, Lauren, Tess and I were still Hill Kids. The ones that lived by the river, which could get to the court on foot, were still the River Rats.

"You know, I think I've done most of my growing up right here?" I said. It was still early September, still as hot as midsummer. Sawyer and I were lying on the concrete of the River Court, not touching but for our laced together hands.

"I know what you mean. So much has happened here," he agreed.

"Remember we used to sail little boats in the river?" I asked.

"That tree, over there, is the first one I ever climbed," he said, indicating a tall, leafy tree.

"I climbed it before you," I boasted. He laughed.

"Callie Jagielski, you are an amazing woman," he said.

"I'm a girl," I defended proudly.

"Oh yeah?" he laughed again, and I laughed along with him.

"Remember when we were here, before the whole mess started? And Lucas showed up?" I asked.

"I'd just lifted you up so you could slam dunk. My own uncle and I didn't even recognize him. I wonder why he left?"

"A secret love," I said confidently.

"Yeah, like your mom," he said.

"Your face!" I shot back.

"No, I actually meant Peyton. He was in love with her," he reminded me.

"Yeah. Freaky to think he could have been my dad," I said.

"Jenny wouldn't be your sister," he said.

"You'd be my cousin," I said, wrinkling my nose.

"Would that have kept us apart?" he said, laughing.

"Most definitely. Not much else could," I said.

"Well, fear of commitment couldn't," he said.

"Objective mothers couldn't."

"Could other women?" he asked, breaking the mood of the moment. I rolled to prop myself on my elbow. My blonde hair tumbled down over my shoulder and rested on the concrete. He fingered one of the locks.

"After we had broken up, I went farther than I meant to with a girl in Maine," he said. I jerked away from him, and his hand fell from my hair.

"What? What happened to the pining? The everlasting love?" I demanded.

"It was three months! I thought I'd lost you!" he defended, reaching for me.

"You had lost me!"

"I'm sorry Cal, really I am, but you made out with Jesse the day we did it in Maine," he reminded me.

"That meant nothing!" I said, shocked he'd never known.

"Yeah, well, neither did this."

"It was sex! Mine was just kissing! Sex has to mean something!" I said, standing up. He stood up as well, and towered over me. He took my shoulders.

"Callie, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I'm starting to think you're the only one I've ever loved, because I've managed it for years now. But after you gave up on me, I didn't know what to do. I felt like my life was empty. Even before you broke up with me, before we'd started going out, we'd always had each other. Every day of our entire lives, except for that first week. Which must have been some pretty tough week," he said, pushing a strand of hair away from my eye. I slapped his hand away.

"I'm going to go. We'll talk later," I said coldly, hoping to keep the tears that had welled up after his speech out of my voice.

He let me go, and I walked calmly to my car and drove home.

An unfamiliar sports car was parked in the driveway, in front of Daddy's car and Mom's.

Looking at the door to the house, I saw Jenny and Mom and Daddy walk up and approach the car. As her eyes caught sight of it, I saw them widen, and saw her shriek and clap her hands together, hopping up and down. I got out of the car we'd previously shared and walked over to join them.

"They bought you this?" I asked, trying to get excitement into my voice. She nodded excitedly, and flung her arms around the pair of them. The car was beautiful-bright red with a beautiful leather interior.

"Yes! When did you guys buy it?" she asked curiously. She still hadn't moved back in.

"April, officially. You like?" asked Mom.

"I love it. Thank you so much. Mom." She said. Mom nodded and handed her a car key on a chain.

"So now Jenny can take this to school and Callie will keep the old one. Speaking of which, it's time to go," he said regretfully. He and Jenny were driving together to Brown, and he planned to take the train back.

We loaded everything into a previously rented trailer. As we all gathered by the driver's side door, Jenny and I burst into tears and fell into each other's arms. This set of Mom, and then Lauren in turn. Jenny hugged the both of them before turning on Daddy.

"I love you. And I'm sorry," she said.

"It doesn't matter anymore. And here," he said, handing her a white envelope. She hugged him again as she pulled out a check and her eyes widened at the amount.

Lauren, Mom and I gathered on the middle of the street and waved as Jenny departed. I loved my big sister. Without her I'd never have been born. Mom and Daddy might never have gotten married. Haley might have never gone back to Nathan without Mom to take her. In which case Sawyer never would have been born.

Jenny was beautiful and talented. She'd do well at college, but I knew I couldn't possibly do well without her.

The rest of us moped around the house for the rest of the day. We'd lived without Jenny for months but having her gone, and Daddy gone with her, made it much less bearable. We made dinner for each other at six and ate it silently, and prepared for a long, Jenny free evening.

"Shit, I have to go!" said Mom suddenly, shooting up from her chair.

"Where?" asked Lauren lazily.

"Tric! It's all ages night and I should have been down there twenty minutes ago to supervise. Coming?" she asked, running around in search of her purse.

"Uh n…" I cut off Lauren.

"Yeah, we're coming," I said, kicking her ankle under the table. She shot me an odd look.

"What?" she said, as soon as Mom had left the room.

"She's lonely. We should. And we can subtly press for answers," I said.

"Oh, the pregnancy. How did it go with Brooke?" she asked. I thought back to the day before, in which I'd gone to visit Brooke with the guise of wanting to know successful methods of birth control. I was fairly sure she hadn't suspected that I had been trying to figure out whether or not she was pregnant.

"Good, I guess. I don't think it's her. We'll check Haley next," I said. Haley would be harder to quiz. She knew me better than Brooke did, she'd be able to pick up my motive.

Lauren and I ran upstairs to change. I slipped out of my sweat pants into a pair of form fitting blue jeans that sat low on my hips and a pink, lace edged tank top that revealed a small amount of tanned, toned flesh and the hoop on my belly button.

My little sister rolled her eyes when she saw me. She was wearing a skirt that was almost at her knees and a pink t-shirt with very short sleeves.

"Oh, who's this for?" she asked, playfully fingering my lacy shoulder strap. I stuck my tongue out at her and ran downstairs to meet mom.

Tric was empty and the staff were still setting up when we arrived with Mom. Lauren and I greeted all of them before settling down on one of the couches around the room, an action that had become a routine in our long years of being club owner daughters.

All at once, as it always was, teenagers began to flow into Tric. We were quickly joined by half the varsity cheerleaders along with Jason Winters, John Fenning and Eli Hutchings.

I took to the dance floor with John and Lauren as a fast song came on. We danced in a circle, turning away from the boys, leering at me or leering my sister, who tried to join us.

John subtly directed my attention to the edge of the dance floor. Sawyer Scott was staring at me, dancing with my ex. His gaze devoured me whole and exposed my soul to the dancing crowd. I turned away from him.

"We got in a fight," I explained to him. I could practically see Lauren's ears perk up though she was several feet away, dancing with a blond guy.

"About?"

"Oh, he told me about some skank he slept with during summer break," I said bitterly.

"Told you about it?" John asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, told me it happened," I said, blushing.

"Were you broken up by then?"

"Yeah, but it's besides the point. We've been back together for almost a week now, and he says he wanted it the entire time like I did and he just didn't get around to telling me," I explained.

"While it's not the greatest thing he could have possibly done, he was trying to prevent you from running again, and figured it was the only was possible. And as much as it sucks, it was his right."

"So? He's supposed to be in love with me!" I countered.

"Callie, he is! Everyone in Tree Hill knows that!" he said passionately.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone. You guys are like royalty around here," he said.

"Well of course," I said, faux arrogantly, twirling a curl around my finger. I tried to ignore the way his eyes fastened to it.

"Callie!" called Mom. I turned around to see her weaving her way through the dancers.

"What is it?" I asked. Lauren joined us.

"My band just backed out. I have hundreds of teenagers here, all of which came to hear live music and now all they get is a DJ," she said anxiously.

"Is Haley here?" I asked.

"No. She wouldn't do it anyway, she thinks it'll give her bad karma. Lauren?" she asked, appealing for a suggestion.

"Callie can do it," she said confidently.

"What? No!" I said.

"No, you can. Please Cal. I need you," begged Mom.

"I can't sing on a stage all by myself!" I complained.

"Then sing with someone else!" suggested Mom brightly.

"Like Sawyer!" suggested Lauren.

"Lauren!" I yelled.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Mom curiously.

"We got in a fight. Laure!" I said, trying to grab my sister's arm as she wove her way through the crowd toward Sawyer. I saw her reach him, saw them converse for a moment before he shrugged and nodded.

"Callie, why are you fighting with Sawyer?" asked Mom as she lead me, reluctantly, to the stage.

"During the summer, he… you know, I don't want to talk about it," I said shortly, realizing that if I told her it might make her question whether or not Sawyer and I were doing it.

"Fine. What do you guys want to sing?" she asked, as we reached the stage and Sawyer and Lauren joined us.

"_When the Stars go Blue_," he said, answering before I had the chance to. Mom immediately took on a look of surprise.

"Good thing your Dad isn't here. Okay, whenever you're ready," said Mom. Sawyer jumped onto the stage and gave me his hand to help me up.

"Lauren, announce us," I hissed. She obligingly got onto the stage and spoke into the microphone.

"Tree Hill, I give you one of our best couples to sing you one of our native songs! Everyone this is Sawyer Scott and Callie Jagielski!" she said. As she got off the stage, the music came on and I waited, counting in my head to begin.

I sang the first four lines easily. I loved the song, and it had been in my car stereo for as long as I'd had the car. Especially since last May, the passionate, beautiful lyrics had meant everything to me.

"_Dancing out on seven streets,_

_Dancing through the underground,_

_Dancing little marionettes _

_Are you happy now?_

_Where do you go when you're lonely?" _he sang.

Sawyer Brian Scott didn't look like a boy who would have a voice like that. He was big and muscular and reeked of masculinity.

My voice met his as we began to sing the chorus and our eyes met. _I love you_, he mouthed. Without even stopping to think about it, I mouthed it back before continuing on with the song.

The crowd burst into cheers as we finished and Sawyer took my hand to get me off the stage again. He pulled me to one of the dark corners of the room.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I just needed time. We weren't broken up," I said.

"Apparently an afternoon of 'time' is too much," he said. I laughed, hoping the eyes of my mother and the rest of Tree Hill weren't on my back.

"Most definitely. Summer vacation's almost over," I said sadly. What I'd once thought of as the worst summer break I'd ever experienced had turned out to be that changed my life.

"We have another two weeks. It's weird how we're starting to late this year," he said.

"Yeah. Rumour has it that the principal postponed it because he's in rehab," I said.

"Mr. Preston isn't interesting enough to be a druggie. Come here," he said, taking me in his arms and pulling me close to close the distance of several inches between us.

I leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Uncaring of the crowd, of everyone we knew, he kissed me back and I let myself sink back into happiness.


	46. Chapter Forty Six

Chapter Forty-Six

_I just got reviewed by Ravens 23, who wrote 'Backfired'. This is one of my favourites stories so it's kind of like being reviewed by a celebrity. Thanks!_

A skipped month. A late night ice cream spree. A nausea to hang over me the entire day.

It was enough to make any girl worry. Especially one who had recently been deflowered by her boyfriend.

_It had been going so well…_ Too well. Apparently we couldn't go together for more than a week without me getting freaked about commitment. Or without me getting pregnant.

But the test in the garbage in the bathroom? Was someone else in the same condition that I was? Was it one of my sisters? Maybe I didn't know Jenny as well as I'd previously thought I had. Maybe Lauren had faked exhaustion to get a secret past from those who loved her best. Maybe Mom and Daddy still weren't great with the whole protection thing.

I ran to my computer and found the calendar on it. Quickly I calculated-The Night had been August 29th-just about two weeks before I should have menstruated, even though I didn't. Figures.

I crept down two flights of stairs to peer through the banister to Daddy's study, just off the entrance hall. It was a soothing ritual, one that I practiced whenever my own life got out of control.

Mom was sitting on Daddy's lap while he sat on his leather desk chair. They were always taking. They never, ever ran out of things to talk about. I wanted a marriage like theirs. Or like Nathan and Haley's. Minus the abandonment thing.

"Isn't it crazy, how Nathan and Haley are still together?" asked Mom, as if she'd read my thoughts.

"A little. None of us though they would be, right?" he said.

"Even though we all wanted it for them. Of course. Remember on our wedding night?" she asked.

"How she was your bridesmaid, and she was supposed to be paying attention to you but she and Nathan couldn't keep their eyes off each other?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was so good for them. Remember how we all got to Tric and she performed and then Nathan helped her down and they just kissed, like the past year hadn't happened," she said.

"I still think Sawyer was conceived that night," said Daddy, laughing.

"No, surprisingly. Um, the night the three of us went out and Brooke and I got hammered, and I got the tattoo? The day after that, Haley forgot a pill," explained Mom.

"Wow. Better than us, we were just too caught up in the moment to think of it," he said. She laughed and kissed him. I really hoped they weren't talking about what I thought they were talking about.

I walked down the wide, polished elegant staircase to face Mom and Daddy. They were still kissing in the chair, but they broke off guiltily when I appeared.

"I'm going out," I told them. Mom sat up on Daddy's lap and smoothed out her dark brown curls.

"Where?" she asked.

"Danielle Bennett's," I said, saying the first name of one of my friends that came to mind.

"Okay. See you later," said Daddy.

I didn't go to Danielle's house, I went to the pharmacy and pulled three different pregnancy tests off the shelf, hurriedly paying for them, avoiding the eye of the cashier and hiding my left hand from view.

On my drive home, I noticed every baby, toddler and small child on the way home. I noticed parents looking frazzled, mothers weighed down my two or more children.

Was I really pregnant?

The three positive tests in front of me seemed like fairly good evidence.

Like mother like daughter. In fact, like father like daughter, like father and mother like son. There had been a three generation curse of young mothers and young marriages in both families, the Scotts and the Jagielskis. With a Scott and a Jagielski in one relationship, it was bound to happen. Destined to happen. _Fated _to happen.

I put way, way too much faith in fate. I spent too much time looking for it. Waiting for it to come for me.

I wanted to scream, to panic completely, but I couldn't. As busy Mom and Daddy were downstairs, they'd hear me if I was loud enough. And they'd pry out of me what was wrong. What would Daddy do to me? He didn't regret my birth, or even Jenny's. But the fact that he'd gotten two different girls pregnant as teenagers had always made him paranoid. He'd been watching the three of us closely, beginning when we'd respectively reached junior high and in turn become completely boy crazy. Some of us more so than others.

My computer made the chime of an incoming email. Jenny, most likely. I couldn't deal with a cheery email account of her brand new perfect college life with her fake ID and brand new hotties.

"Cal?" said a voice, coming hesitantly to the door. I turned my face and flipped my hair around like a shampoo model.

"BJ," I said gratefully, rushing into the arms he held out to me.

"I missed that," he said, kissing my hair.

"How could you have possibly missed BJ?" I asked, looking up at him. A tear trickled down my cheek and he gently wiped it away.

"What's wrong babe?" he asked.

"Promise you won't get mad?" I asked.

"Uh, no," he said, looking scared.

"Sawyer!"

"Yeah, I promise. What's up?" he asked, looking amiable.

"I'm pregnant," I announced.

"How do you know?" he asked, trying to remain composed in spite of his whitened face. I took his hand and dragged him to the bathroom, picking up one of the positive tests and showing it to him.

"That's how," I clarified.

"You should have done the tests with me, you didn't have to do that alone. Uh, sometimes you should take more than one," he suggested. With my other hand, I picked up the other two and showed him.

"Okay. Wow. We should have been more careful," he said.

"Great idea, hot shot. We'll work on that," I said bitterly.

"Callie."

"And we were careful! It was just one time!" I complained.

"Callie!"

"WHAT?" I burst out. He looked shocked, but put his hand on the small of my back and steered me toward the bedroom. As he ushered me in and came in behind me, he met my eyes before closing the door and locking it.

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Sit down." I walked nervously to the bed and sat. He stuck one hand inside of his pocket and hesitated for a second before he pulled it out, his fist closed. He knelt in front of me.

"Oh, god," I said, gasping as I realized in an instant what he was about to do. He pulled out his hand and opened it, deftly flicking a small velvet blue box open with his thumbnail.

Revealing a diamond ring of many karats. A square princess cut diamond on a solid gold band. A ring used for one purpose, and one person only.

"Sawyer, don't," I whispered. He continued on as though he hadn't heard me. He took my hand in his. My left hand in his right.

"Callie Jagielski, I love you. Will you marry me?"


	47. Chapter Forty Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven

In spurts, I saw the man in front of my grow up. I saw him as I first remembered him-a solemn faced toddler with his thumb in his mouth. Growing older to a small boy with eyes too big and bright to fit his narrow face. To a tall, gangly ten year old with painstakingly spiked hair. A boy of thirteen, beginning to grow out of his awkwardness. An older, sixteen year old with the abs and biceps he still had.

This was Sawyer Scott. The same boy I'd already spent my entire life with.

_"We should get married when we grow up."_

_"She's going to miserable until she gets together with Sawyer."_

_"You love him!"_

_"Maybe you're going to get married freakishly young!"_

_"You kissed him, didn't you?"_

_"We've been hoping for sixteen years!"_

_"He so right for you!"_

_"I want you."_

_"I love you."_

_"Both of us know we're going to end up together."_

The last memory caused me to jerk my head out of the string of flashbacks. He was still in front of me, in the clichéd pose, waiting expectantly, the diamond twinkling away. How could he have bought a diamond? When his parents had gotten married, his mother had had a gold band. The same one she still wore, despite the fact that Nathan could easily supply her with diamonds.

This was wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to happen after he was a famous basketball player and I'd become a popstar, or a magazine editor or even a lawyer. After we'd finished university and chased all our dreams to the extent that they could be chased. After we graduated from high school, for god's sake.

But I'd also once resolved not to sleep with him-or anyone-until after I'd married. Haley had once resolved the same thing. But she'd gotten married at sixteen.

I looked at the earnest look in Sawyer's eye. Was it a good thing, that I could read him like a book? He really did love me, I realized. Instead of filling me with joy, it filled me with dread.

I'd been scared when he'd begun to talk about commitment. Begun to speak passionately about our life long love. Isn't that how everyone feels, under the glow of a new love? Or did we actually have something special?

Tree Hill was so small. I hadn't had a chance to explore the rest of the world, find another place in which to find a different soul mate. Would I find myself regretting it in a year, after my child was born? Would I find some hottie musician to tempt me away from my devoted husband? Was it something I really cared about repeating?

Images flashed through my mind, replacing the thoughts and memories. I saw Mom and Daddy on their wedding day, her obviously pasted on smile. Then I saw them, less then a year later. She was heavily pregnant and the two of them were staring into each other's eyes. I saw them later still, Daddy carrying a baby in one hand while trying to restrain a two year old version of myself for long enough to take the picture while Mom tried to do the same for Jenny.

I saw Haley in her white sundress, next to Nathan who was beaming with pride at his bride of a half hour. Saw them at the famous picture of their wedding party at Tric, and a candid one of their reunion on Mom and Daddy's wedding day. Nathan and Haley were Naley. Mom and Daddy were Jeyton. What could we possibly be?

"Cal?" he asked, politely inquisitive. He's trying to respect that this is the biggest decision I'll ever make, but he wants to know. And he's been on his knee for almost five minutes. But if he wants an answer he'll wait.

I was supposed to be head cheerleader after school started, something I'd always wanted. Something that was bound to go to me, the daughter of Peyton Sawyer. In September, we'd be the head cheerleader and the star of the team. Like Nathan and Peyton, who'd failed miserably. Like Dan and Karen, who still lived in hate of each other. Something inevitable but not necessarily successful.

I loved Sawyer. I'd told him so the night before. But I didn't know, how could I possible know, if I'd love him forever. He seemed quite sure. How could he think of love as such a simple thing?

Suddenly I pictured him on top of another woman. A taller, curvier, woman. A woman he was doing all the things he'd done to me so personally.

The thought of it made me snatch my hand from him. His eyes fell, and I had to force myself to look into them.

"No," I said simply.

"You told me you loved me," he said slowly.

"I do. But I can't," I said. A tear leaked from his eye before one leaked from mine.

"Why not?" he asked. As if he had the right to.

"Because! Your parents were in love, and they couldn't last more than a year!" I protested.

"But they got back together. And your parents weren't in love and they're still together. I don't think it's a reference we can follow," he said. I almost cracked a smile.

"It's wrong, to get married just because I'm having a baby. We'd end up regretting it," I said.

"The baby needs its mother and its father!" he said.

"And it'll have that! We'll raise it together forever BJ, even if we're not together forever," I said.

"I hate that I can't change your mind," he said. I stood up and he did as well, placing the ring in its box carefully in the pocket of his jeans. I kissed his cheek but he jerked and redirected my lips to his mouth. He kissed desperately and passionately, running his tongue across my lips until I opened them and let him in.

"It's not enough," I said at last. He walked to the door, pausing when his hand was on the doorknob. He turned his head and looked directly into my eyes.

"It's more than enough," was all he said.

I did the only thing anyone could expect me to do: I flopped down onto my bed and cried my heart out.

My cell rang half an hour later and I scrambled around my room, finding it one the last ring. I hurriedly answered it.

"Hello?" I said into it, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

"Hey, Callie," said a voice.

"Haley?" I said, flopping back down onto my bed, wondering why she was calling me.

"Do you mind coming over here? I'd like to talk," she said amicably. I considered saying no, but I didn't trust my lying abilities to keep from her asking further questions.

I walked down the street to the Scott house. Sawyer was truly insane. It was what was expected of him, but it really deserved more thought. Where would we live? Would he have to get a job? What about when he wanted to go to university to be a basketball player? I encircled my arms about my flat stomach protectively.

"Aunt Haley?" I called, entering the house without knocking. My call echoed around the entrance hall. I stopped to admire the many doors leading off to different wings and the vast, curved staircase.

"In here sweetie," she called. I followed her voice. I'd half grown up in the Scott mansion, and navigation was as easy as it was in my own home.

Haley was sitting on a sofa, her legs crossed. Her medium brown hair was immaculate, curling at the ends. She looked posed and stiff. Even her smile didn't reach her large brown eyes. She beckoned and I went to sit across from her.

"What's up?" I asked nervously. Being called over to talk to her was much like being called to talk to one of my parents.

"I was talking to Auntie Brooke, and she said you went to visit her," began Haley.

"Yeah. Um, about that," I said, beginning awkwardly.

"You don't have to explain. I understand, it happens," she said. What?

"I just wanted to know more about it," I said. I had wanted to know more about protection, even with my ulterior motive.

"It's understandable that you have questions," she said sympathetically. "I know I did, when I went through it."

"Really? I mean, I've had health class for years, and Mom has explained all about it," I said.

"It's something you need experience in to truly understand," she said, in a surprisingly woman-to-woman tone.

"I guess," I said.

"So are you going to be alright?" she asked.

"What? I understand everything now," I explained.

"That's not exactly how it works," she said.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion. It was exactly how it worked. Birth control stayed the same, didn't it?

"Well, as you get farther and farther along, you encounter more and more. It's different for every woman," she said. I gasped.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Pregnancy," she said. She paused. "What are _you_ talking about?"

"Birth control!" I burst out.

"WHY?" she asked.

"Because that's what I talked to Brooke about!" I clarified.

"Why did you talk to Brooke about birth control if you're not pregnant?" she asked, clearly shaken. She pressed the skin between her two eyebrows with her index finger and her thumb.

"Because she might be pregnant!"

"She's not! Why on Earth would you think so?" asked Haley, in confusion.

"Because there's a positive pregnancy test in our house, and it's the only one that's not mine!" I exclaimed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"So you are pregnant."

"Yes," I said shakily. She stood up and towered over me and I waited timidly.

"SAWYER BRIAN SCOTT!" she yelled, in a call that echoed throughout the entire house. He appeared in under a minute. He came into the room and looked from me to his mother, towering over me as if about to deliver a sentencing.

"You got her pregnant?" she asked, her anger turning over to deathly calm.

"Yes," he admitted.

"Where the hell have you been for the past three years? Have you ever even listened to us?" she asked.

"It was just one time," he said.

"One time too many!" she responded. Nathan walked by and paused as he saw the three of us gathered.

"Nathan, get in here," she requested. He entered and raised his eyebrows. I smiled weakly at him.

"What's going on Hales?" he asked.

"Don't you 'Hales' me. Your goddaughter is pregnant," she said. Nathan's gave slid off his wife and shot over to me. He leaned down, picked up a phone and dialed a memorized number into it. I lunged for him when I realized what he was doing. I lost my balance in mid jump and as I fell dangerously to the glass coffee table, Sawyer caught me. He helped me up and I shook him off, watching helplessly as Nathan called me parents.

"You said you didn't even do it!" accused Mom, several minutes later when we were all gathered in the room.

"I didn't want to disappoint you," I said. I still sat on the chair. The four of them were still gathered around me in a semi circle. Sawyer was behind me, his hand on my shoulder. I wanted to shake him off, to break contact with him, but didn't want them to notice the gesture.

"That's sweet I guess, but you know how much younger I was! Why couldn't you use protection? Have I been talking into a siv for ten years? I thought that you of all people would get it," said Mom.

"Both of you. Your mother and I love you, but you know how much it will change your life," said Nathan to Sawyer.

"Yeah, what do you think you're going to do?" asked Haley.

"There's only one thing to do," said Daddy, speaking finally.

"What?" asked Mom, turning to face her husband.

"They have to get married," he said.

"You're right," said Nathan.

"They can live at the beach house. It seems like the only option…" said Haley. She glanced at me for a moment.

"Hello, I'm still here," I said.

"What do you think we should do Callie?" asked Mom.

"Well not get married, for starters," I said.

"Callie, come on," said Daddy, sounding quite tired.

"What?"

"You got yourself into this, this is how you get yourself out," he said.

"Like you're one to talk," I spat out.

"I asked Nikki to marry me. Your mother was never pregnant out of wedlock," he said stiffly.

"I did ask her," said Sawyer.

"Oh, good. Then it's okay," said Haley in relief, looking considerably calmer.

"I said _no_," I said. Four pairs of eyes swiveled to rest accusingly on me.

"Why?" asked Daddy, with deadly calm.

"I'm seventeen, if you've forgotten. It's not even legal," I said.

"It would be somewhat hypocritical of us to not give our consent," said Haley coldly.

"Mom?" I said desperately. She hadn't said anything in a while.

"Callie baby, you know I love you. But I don't think you can raise a child by yourself. I think you'd end up resenting it, and I think that it would end up resenting you. Your Daddy tried with Jenny, and it worked out great, but even he'd admit it worked out better when I came along," she finished.

"So basically, you agree with all of them," I said.

"Basically, yes," she said.

"This is what you guys have to do. It's kind of expected of you," said Daddy firmly.

"I can't believe you! I thought you knew me! Anyway, I'll be eighteen in six months. Why can't we wait till then when I have a right to make my own decisions?" I said.

"You know as well as we do that by that time you'd have found a chance to wriggle out of this," said Daddy. He was the ringleader of their posse.

"I'm not getting married," I said again.

"Why not? You've grown up around healthy relationships that started at your age! You love Sawyer! He loves you! You're pregnant! It's freaking inevitable!" yelled Daddy.

"I hate you," I said simply. I tilted up my chin to meet his brown eyes, trying to add extra pain for him before I got up, pushed past them and stalked downstairs.

I heard him indistinctly, calling my name as I left his house. I started to walk faster, but he caught up to me easily and grabbed my upper arm as I refused to stop. I tried to shake him off, but his grip was strong.

"Callie, at least thing about it," he begged.

"It's not going to happen," I said dully.

"I don't get it."

"That I'm not willing to commit myself for the rest of my life at seventeen? Yeah, it's a real conundrum," I said sarcastically.

"You've already committed the rest of your life to me," he said, placing a hand on my stomach. Once his hand was off my arm, I took the opportunity and fled.

I ran into my house and locked the door. Once I reached my room I locked and barricaded that door as well, refusing even Lauren.

Daddy and Mom knocked on the door periodically for hours, even as the sky grew dark. The gave up at around ten o'clock and presumably went to bed.

I heard a ping against the glass of my window, and another. I walked over to it slowly and opened it, leaning out of it to look down.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, as quietly as possible.

"I need to talk to you," he said back.

"Some use the door," I answered, leaning back out of my window and shutting it firmly.

I leaned out again an hour later. I checked the ground, the porch. He was nowhere to be seen. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I slowly eased the window open and leaned out to grab a tree branch. Holding on tightly I climbed carefully onto the window frame and swinging myself onto a branch.

The tree was tall and the climb precarious, but I'd always been a good climber. Perching on the lowest branch, six feet off the ground, I jumped off and landed in the soft, wet grass. I crept toward my car.

"Callie?" came a weary, sleep deprived voice. I spun around.

"Sawyer? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I told you, I came to talk to you," he said. "Where are you going?"

"That was an hour ago," I said, glancing at my watch.

"Well, I'm nothing if not persistent. Where are you going?" he asked again.

"Nowhere," I said uncomfortably. As I proceeded toward my car, he realized where I was going and jumped to his feet. He ran in front of me and grabbed both my arms.

"You're running away?" he accused.

"I need time to think," I said, struggling. His grip remained just as firm.

"About what? I thought it wasn't going to happen," he said.

"Think about the baby, Sawyer," I said. His eyes widened as he realized what I was talking about.

"You can't do that," he said. He looked terrified.

"My choice," I said. I felt guilty over being so cruel to someone I really did love. Because he was right-I never could have an abortion.

"Go back inside," he requested. I took a deep breath before kneeing him hard. He released me immediately before falling onto the grass in pain.

"JAKE! PEYTON!" he yelled. I saw an upstairs light flick on before I took to my heels and ran toward my car, jumping in without bothering to open the door. I threw my cell phone and it landed a foot away from Sawyer.

I heard a motor start behind me, and made a sharp turn. Whomever had said like mother like daughter had been absolutely correct.


	48. Chapter Forty Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

_I just got a review saying they read the whole trilogy at once. That is so, so awesome. Sacrifice, Early for Two, and Chasing Fate put together are probably over one hundred thousand words altogether by now! By the way, any of you watch Desperate Housewives? RIP Rex. _

I was barely out of Tree Hill before I was accosted. Not by Mom or Daddy. Not even by Haley, Nathan, Brooke or Sawyer. It was Lucas Scott.

He saw me at a stop light at two o'clock in the morning and got into my car without permission.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm running away," I said coldly.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"Running. Away."

"Why?" he asked.

"Oh, is who next? I'm pregnant and they're trying to pressure me into marrying Sawyer Scott," I explained.

"Shit. I thought you were into him?" he said.

"Yeah. I'm seventeen," I said.

"You know about my history, right?" he asked. I took my eyes off the road to look at how earnest he looked.

"About your Mom and Dan?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah. About how he got her pregnant in high school and she ended up having to raise me alone. Callie, I never forgave him that. I'll never forgive him that," he said.

"I'm not doing this alone. Sawyer isn't his grandfather."

"That's true. Sawyer's a good kid, and you're a good kid. But you're both just kids. And it could never be the same," he said.

"Do you have any idea what you're talking about?" I asked in annoyance.

"I know it's not my place, and that you have every right to hate me. But yeah actually, I do. Brooke had a pregnancy scare in our junior year," said Lucas.

"And you'd have married her?" I asked.

"If she'd let me," he said slowly.

"Even though you were in love with Mom?" I asked.

"Despite that. Are you in love with someone else?" he asked.

"No. You should get out," I advised. He sighed.

"Callie, I'm sorry. Really I am, for everything I've caused you and your mom and Dad. They mean a lot to me, they always have," he said. By this time he'd gotten out of the car and was standing by it. I looked into his eyes for a moment.

"Then tell them," I said simply, speeding away.

I rode late into the night and then early into the morning. Eventually I stopped at a small, low quality motel, and dropped down onto the bed for an uneasy sleep.

I awoke to steady pounding on the motel door. Wrapping a blanket around myself, I stood and walked to the door.

"Apparently as a fugitive you suck," said Mom, walking in.

"Apparently. What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, sitting on the bed again.

"You're treading on my area of expertise. I'm here to talk about what I've been trying to talk to you about since the 'meeting'," she said. She flopped down into a chair.

"Which is?"

"Marriage with a motive," she said.

"I thought you weren't pregnant when you got married?" I asked.

"Yeah, like I've said before: I didn't get married for you, I got married for Jenny. And I don't regret it. I've never regretted it, I'll never regret it. I've made Jenny's life better from it and I've got you and Lauren, and I don't think anything else could have made me happier," she said.

"It doesn't always work our like that," I reminded her.

"True. But I think the odds are slightly in your favour," she said.

"Why's that?"

"Because of all the marriages you've grown up with. It was harder for me because my mom died young, and my best friend's parents were barely there and the parents of the first two high school boys in my life didn't have exactly model marriages," she said, laughing.

"What are you getting at?" I asked.

"That you love Sawyer. That you've always loved him. That underneath that exterior and that complete incapability to say what you really feel-which, by the way, you got from me-you want to marry him, and do the right thing by his child," she said.

"How did you find me?" I asked a moment later. She rolled her eyes and held in a smile.

"Well, your Dad had them trace your credit card, he called every motel that you could have possibly gotten to in case you paid with cash, and you were snitched on," she said.

"Lucas, of course. Why is Daddy being so insane?" I asked. She sighed.

"Honey, in a way completely detached from you and who you, he's having flashbacks that terrify him," she said.

"Of Nikki," I stated.

"Yes, of Nikki. He loves you, and he loves Sawyer, and I think he figures if you guys get married, you can't really leave that easily. And he is your father, and he knows that you love Sawyer," she said.

"He told you this?" I asked curiously.

"We've been married for over seventeen years. He doesn't have to," she said.

"I'm seventeen," I moaned.

"I was eighteen," she reminded me.

"You had a choice!" I countered.

"You do too! Kind of. Maybe. Not really," she admitted.

"You know if it had been one day earlier…" I moaned.

"So much for rhythm," she said.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," I said.

"Shh. I know," she comforted.

I woke up many hours later. Sometime during my sleep she'd gotten my head off her shoulder and arranged me amongst the pillows and sheets.

"It's been less than twenty-four hours. It's pathetic," I complained.

"Yeah, I lasted almost a week," she bragged.

"But that was too bring back Aunt Haley as much as anything else, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. It was Brooke's idea," she said.

"Of course. She'd think of something like that," I said. The look on Mom's face almost made me question why she was so worried about her best friend. But part of me knew already.

"You're scared for her, I think," I said.

"Yes. It's hard not to be. Brooke's beautiful and intelligent and loving, but she's also headstrong. She'll dive into something before she thinks about it," said Mom.

"You and I should dive more often," I said sadly.

"Not without thinking of the damage it might cost," she said sternly.

"Okay, I guess we're talking about this now," I said nervously.

"I guess. I hate to pull such a mom card, but I thought you wanted to wait for all this? You've been saying for years you wanted to wait until you got married! And Lauren was so annoyed at you two when you were preaching to her about premarital sex!" she scolded.

"Lauren's fourteen!"

"And while most would argue that seventeen is a perfectly normal age, as your mother you know I'm never going to agree with them," she said.

"Do you regret having sex before you got married?" I asked.

"A little bit. Nathan wasn't the greatest guy back then," she told me.

"So I've heard. So why were you with him?" I asked.

"Honestly? Because he was hot. And pretty damn good in bed," she said.

Mom had taken the bus to find me, so the two of us rode back home in my car. We were an hour away from home when she reached into her pocket and gave me back my cell phone.

"Why did you throw this at Sawyer?" she asked curiously.

"Well, if I had it you guys would bother me with phone calls, and it would just make me more traceable. And I didn't throw it at him, I threw it near him," I corrected her.

"When Brooke and I roadtripped to New York, I had mine and each of the guys called me at least a half dozen times," she said, laughing at the memory.

"Did you answer them?" I asked.

"Well, not your fathers, but eventually I answered one of Luke's and your Dad was nearby and he wrestled the phone from him," she answered.

"What did he say?"

"It was the first time he told me he loved me," she said softly.

"When was the first time you said it back?" I asked.

"Um, I think it was after the whole prom fiasco," she said awkwardly. I winced. I knew more about the "prom fiasco" than I could ever possibly want to know.

Most of Tree Hill was thankfully sleeping when Mom and I arrived back. Daddy walked slowly out onto the lawn. I looked up at the house and noticed Lauren looking out of her third floor bedroom window.

Daddy kissed Mom before turning to me. We stared at each other for a full minutes before he opened his arms and ran into them.

Later, after we'd all eaten and small talked, they herded me into his study and sat me down across from them.

"So what's the plan?" I asked with resignation.

"You guys get married as soon as possible. Nathan and Haley have offered to let you stay in the beach house. You guys can keep going to school, when it's time for college we can hire you a helper so the two of you can go away to school," said Daddy.

"As soon as possible?" I asked.

"Before school starts," he suggested. I shut my eyes tightly. School started in a little over a week.

"Has everyone else been informed?" I asked.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"So really I don't have any choice."

"Don't you get it Callie? You guys screwed up! This is the only thing to do!" he said, gripping the edge of the desk.

"I know. I'm going to bed," I said, standing up and leaving the room.

I slowly pushed the door of my room open. I gasped as I entered-instead of encountering my empty dark, room, I found my room transformed. Scented candles dotted the room, making the mood romantic.

Sawyer was sitting on my bed, staring out the window when I entered. He sprang up and half ran toward me, kissing me while cradling my head in his hands.

"Come here," he requested. He trailed his hand down my arm and took my hand and led me to the bed again. I sat down and nervously waited while he went down and took out the box again.

"Callie, will you marry me?" he asked. I nodded, and he took my hand and slid the diamond onto it. Laughing, he held my hand up and watched it twinkle in the candlelight.


	49. Chapter Forty Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine

"Miss me much?" asked a voice from the door. A voice that made me turn immediately away from the window.

Jenny had only been gone a week, but she looked infinitely more worldly. Her hair, mostly back to the familiar medium brown, was loose and bounced around her shoulders. Her red lipstick and her over the shoulder sweater made her look years older than she actually was. She dropped her duffel bag and held her arms out to me.

I met my sister in the middle of the room and we held each other tightly.

"You look so old," I said at last, when she'd stepped away to see me at arm's length.

"You look like you've stopped being a girl and become a woman," she said, fondly with a trace of sadness.

"It happens," I said, stroking my stomach. She bent down and put her hand on it.

"How far along are you?" she asked.

"Almost a month," I guessed.

"It's so incredible," she said, sounding awestruck. "How badly did Daddy kill you?"

"Well, he was the main dictator behind the whole ordeal, but he's healing. Hey, look," I instructed, holding out my left hand. She admired the square diamond.

"It's beautiful," she said sincerely.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Mom called me. And because my best friend is getting married tomorrow," she said. "Where?"

"Oh, we just have broad plans. Like we got the marriage license. Probably at the church where Mom and Daddy got married," I said.

"How can you care so little? Ooh, you should get married at the river court!" she said excitedly.

"What?"

"Seriously! Or by the river court. It's so pretty, with the river and all. And you can wear the white dress you got for the wedding last may, and your white sandals, and we can invite… hmm. I guess the four of us, the three Scotts, Karen and Keith, Brooke, Mouth and Kylie, maybe Sawyer's grandmother. And some of your friends," she added graciously. I raised an eyebrow.

"So basically I have no say whatsoever," I said.

"Basically. Here, try it on," she said. She went to my closet and rummaged through it, eventually locating the silk dress. She looked around the room. "Cal, why aren't you packed?"

"For what?" I asked, taking the dress from her and slipping out of my cotton shirt.

"You're moving tomorrow, remember? You're going to need a change of underwear," she said.

I shrugged and finished changing into the dress, exchanging the bra I was wearing for a strapless one before turning around.

The hem of the dress began at just above my knee and ended midway down my calf, going down diagonally. The bodice was quite tight and low, appropriate for the spring wedding I'd bought it for. It had spaghetti straps and the only thing interrupting the white was a chain of dark pink flowers decorating the left lower side.

"Hmm. It's nicer than I remembered. Can I be you maid of honour?" she asked eagerly.

"Whatever," I said, flopping down onto my bed and putting my hands on my stomach.

She rummaged in her closet, pulling out various dresses and examining them before throwing them into either the 'yes' or 'no' pile.

Without asking my opinion, she eventually picked out a knee length, deep pink halter tied dress and began to mess with my hair.

Some girls need their mommies. All I need right then was my big sister to take care of me.

We drove in her brand new car to the river court. She got out immediately and began making measurements of the area while I got out slowly and wandered over to one of the nets.

I pictured Sawyer and me kissing for the first time, only inches away from where I stood. I saw us lying on the court, seeking solace from the sun. I saw us sitting on the picnic table, before and after we'd gotten together.

"Good news," she said, joining me. "It looks like we're all going to fit just about perfectly."

"Great," I said uninterestedly.

"I'm in love again," she said suddenly.

"What's his name?"

"Lyle. He's a junior," she said.

"What does he think about you?" I asked.

"Oh, he's mad about me. Of course. Now come on, we have to go shopping," she said.

My big sister dragged me through a nail salon, a shoe store, a flower store and finally to a jewelry store. In the last one, we pored over every wedding ring they had, eventually settling for one of the simplest gold bands they carried.

"Want an engraving?" asked a bored looking thirty year old behind the desk.

"Um, can you just write 'Squirt+BJ?" I requested timidly.

"Who and BJ?" she asked

"Squirt. Like the action of spraying windex. Here," I said, writing it down. She nodded and shrugged.

"Come pick it up in half an hour," she said.

In the half hour, Jenny and I went down to the food court to grab ice cream cones. We ate it while slowly making our way back to the jewelry store.

"So I heard you ran off?" she asked eventually.

"Just for a few days," I admitted.

"They must have gone insane."

"Not so insane. They traced my credit card, it didn't take them long to find me," I said, tossing my napkin in a garbage can as we passed.

"So what do you want to do tonight?"

"What can we do? I want to get drunk, but I can't," I whined.

"True. Here's what: we'll get Lauren, and we'll have a sleepover in our room like we did just before I went to school."

"Coming of age. I get it. Sounds good," I said.

"Oh, my little girl's growing up so fast," she said, throwing an arm around my shoulders and squeezing them.


	50. Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty

"Get up get up get uuuuup!" came Jenny's voice cheerfully. I rolled over and groaned.

"It's early," I moaned.

"It's like ten! You're not supposed to be able to sleep, it's your wedding day!" she exclaimed. As she spoke, she tore away my comforter and I sat bolt upright.

It was my wedding day. I'd forgotten. True to her word, Lauren and Jenny had spent the night with me in our room. We'd talked until past midnight, but Lauren wasn't asleep on the floor or anywhere.

"Where's Lala?" I asked, swinging my feet over to dangle over the edge of the bed. I rubbed the sheet comfortingly. It was the last time I'd ever sleep in it. Jenny bounced a few times on the creaking wooden floorboards.

"She and Daddy went to get everything ready. Mom's downstairs pretending not to cry," she informed me, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet.

I stood unsteadily and glanced sideways into the mirror. My hair had survived surprisingly well during my sleep, and was curling nicely. I shook it and admired it for a moment-it was down to my elbows, so nice and blond. My green eyes were obviously exhausted and my face was pale. Which was okay. Pale generally worked for me.

She took my hand again and led me down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen. Mom stood up quickly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She rushed over and hugged me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Nauseous," I answered.

"Well, I suppose that's natural. Do you want breakfast?" she asked. I shook my head but she ignored me and began to bustle around the kitchen.

After I'd eaten enough pancakes to satisfy them I wanted to escape back to my room, but they wouldn't stand for it. My French manicure from the previous day was deemed acceptable. They made me shower and Jenny blow dried it before she and Mom began to put it up.

Jenny spent a long time with my hair. Mom buzzed around, offering suggestions that Jenny for the most part ignored. Mom was quite busy, preparing for the wedding guests that would be there in the evening.

The finished product of my hair was worth the wait. She'd woven into an elaborate bun at the back of my head and left a perfect curl hanging to my chin. I looked completely sleek and elegant. She began working on my face-brushing on blue eyeshadow that was subtle and contrasted with my eyes, pinkish lip gloss and mascara.

Jenny followed me to our room once my hair and makeup was finished. Catching her breath, she gently took my dress out of my closet and brought it dramatically to me. As I touched the silk, fingered the embroidered flowers, the door knocked and Jenny answered it.

Mom entered, her smile tearful. In her arms she carried a bundle of silk with beads glinting in the sun coming through the window. She carried it to me and released it, letting it fall against her.

It was her wedding dress. The one I'd seen thousands of times in pictures. Daddy carried a picture of her in it in his wallet. It was older, but not remotely yellowed or faded. It was as beautiful as it always had been.

"You don't have to if you don't want to…" she said awkwardly. I reached for her and regardless of the priceless dress in her hands, we hugged.

The two of them helped me into the dress and zipped me up. At the time of her marriage Mom had apparently been less slim and a bit taller than me, but it still worked. It showed the perfect amount of cleavage and the beading on it was subtle enough to be beautiful but not too showy as to be tacky. And best of all, I felt her with me in it, imagined her happiness when she was getting married and how much happiness her marriage had led to. It seemed like a good luck charm against my skin.

Mom handed me my bouquet of roses. Jenny quickly changed into her dress, allowed me to tie back her long brown hair and got her own bouquet. The three of us drove in Mom's car to the river court.

Daddy, Lauren, Haley, Nathan, Deb, Brooke, Mouth, Kylie, Tess, Karen, Keith and even John along with two of my cheerleader friends, Dana and Sara were assembled at the river court.

I stared out at them, standing in the grass beside the basketball court and the sparking river. This was everyone that I loved, everyone that I cared about.

Daddy walked quickly to the car to help me out in the long dress, and I took his arm as he began to lead me down the makeshift aisle as music began to play.

I looked out on the crowd again before we could reach them, and a memory flashed in my head. A memory of a packed church and a Sawyer at the end of the aisle. I pictured myself-I was wearing Mom's dress in the dream I'd had, there was no doubt about it. I reached up to feel my hair-that was wrong. Despite Jenny's gasp, I reached up and quickly undid it, letting my blonde hair fall against my bare shoulders. Dreams had to count for something.

The sight of Sawyer refreshed me. The wedding had made me unhappy for days, but anything with him at the end had to be okay. He'd never failed to protect me, from the monsters under the bed and eventually broken hearts. He was reliable and loving and I really did love him. I smiled at him, and his blue eyes twinkle as he smiled back.

My gaze stayed on him as I walked down the short aisle, but I felt other's gaze upon me. They wished me well, all of them. I wished them well, too. Suddenly, inexplicably, I was happy. My hair brushed against my face and tickled me, and I giggled.

Daddy kissed my cheek as we reached Sawyer. The first he'd seen me in his wife's dress he had double taken, and he did it again at the end of the aisle.

"You'll always be my little girl, you know?" he whispered. I smiled at him. Maybe he did know what was best for me, he just didn't know how to act upon it.

I took the hand that Sawyer offered and joined him. He was wearing a black Armani tux and looked as handsome as he always did. I smiled at him and he smiled back in obvious relief.

_"I love you,"_ he mouthed to me. I mouthed it back to him as we were married.

Sawyer kissed me and suddenly the world changed forever and the deal was sealed.

"And I now proclaim Mr. And Mrs. Sawyer Scott," said the reverend proudly. Sawyer squeezed the hand he held, and held up my hand so my diamond twinkled in the light. Callie Scott. Huh.

The two of us drove away in Sawyer's white SUV (so similar to a white horse) back to the house where we sat through speeches from my parents (which made me cry) from Nathan's (which made all of us laugh) Haley's (which was actually a song) Jenny's (that made Sawyer cry as well) and finally Karen's (which made me feel that I'd actually made the right choice, or had had it made for me.)

Two more hours later we were finally allowed to leave. We drove off again in his car, a suitcase of mine in the back seat.

It took us twenty minutes to arrive at the beach. He stopped in front of the Scott beach house-the most beautiful one. Before I could get out, he got out and came around to open the door for me.

I stood back to admire my new home. It was three floors, like my old house, but three big, beautiful floors. A porch wrapped around the whole house. Though I couldn't see them, stairs led to the beach. The door facing the road was painted white in contrast with the blue house.

I turned to him as we reached the porch steps and he mutely opened his arms. I went into him, put his arms around my neck and he easily slung my legs over onto his other arm while I clung to him.

"I love you," I said suddenly. He was in the middle of opening the door single handedly, and looked down at me in surprise.

"I'll never stop," he promised.

He set me down in the entry way, and I admired it for a moment before turning to him. He looked slightly awkward, as though making the first move would make him a bit of a pervert. Even though he was my husband. _That would be something to get used to._

I kissed him and opened my lips. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I felt the familiar feel of having him kiss me. His hands slid down to grip my ass, and after another moment his hands curved around my thighs and I allowed him again to lift me into the air.

I kissed his ear softly while he carried me upstairs. His hand roamed through my loose hair, tugging it gently.

He dropped me on the wide bed and climbed atop me. He ripped of the shirt I'd changed into and I began unbuttoning the buttons of his silk dress shirt and undoing his expensive tie. Being the lover that he was, he made me come before he entered me while we slowly and desirably made love.

A half hour later we lay exhausted in each other's arms.

"Unsinful sex is nice," I admitted.

"You're nice," he said, kissing my nose gently.

"I don't do oral," I said suddenly, breaking the tender moment. He pulled away, surprised.

"Okay. What?"

"Or anal. Or S and M. I don't even know what it stands for. And in twenty years I'm not going to turn into Bree Van De Kamp with perfectly pressed slacks and a cardigan. And you're not going to be annoyingly possessive, and I'm going to try harder to roll with the punches and when I get all big you still have to make me believe I'm beautiful," I said sternly.

"You still will be."

"So you agree?" I asked.

"Of course. You should have made a prenup," he joked. I rolled back onto him, and surprised him with another kiss.

"Don't tempt me."


	51. Chapter Fifty One

Chapter Fifty-One

_Author's note: **Someone** completely spoiled the season finale in their review, so it's a good thing I saw it a half hour earlier. Good thing I hadn't checked my emails before sitting down to watch it… About that. My stories are completely AU by now, but I might try to incorporate some newer things. And I do realize it's extremely that Callie knew about a character that was in a show that came out the year she was born, but whatever. And by the way, did you guys love the finale? I'm so proud of Haley, and WTF was up with Peyton's mom? I'm posting a spoiler at the end of this chapter because I love how much you guys have been reviewing._

"Cal, I'm home!" called Sawyer. I sat up slowly and shook my hair out of my eyes. He'd waken me from my afternoon nap.

After I'd washed my face, I bounded down the stairs. When he saw me, he dropped the groceries he was caring and I went into his arms. We began kissing feverishly. After a few minutes, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he took me upstairs again.

"Damn," he said, much later.

"Mm," I agreed, resting my head on his shoulder.

"That's going to take a while to get old," he said.

"Hope it never does," I said lazily, lifting up my head to meet his lips.

"Tomorrow's the first day of school," he said.

"Yeah. Think everyone knows about us?" I asked.

"Not about the baby, but about the marriage," he said.

"Everyone knows when a royal wedding takes place in Tree Hill," I joked.

"Huh?"

"The Scotts. They're like Tree Hill royalty. Everyone bows down to the Scotts. They always have the most money and everything," I said.

"Mrs. Scott, You don't have to refer to Scotts in the third person anymore," he reminded me.

"I'll remember that. Mr. Scott. Hey, do you think I've gotten fatter?" I asked worriedly.

"No," he said quickly.

"You didn't even look!" I argued.

"Yeah, well, I look a lot of the rest of the time," he said.

"At least you don't leer."

"At least. You hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, for you," I responded. I allowed him to roll on top of me while we indulged ourselves again and again.

The next morning, Sawyer slept late because of the exhaustion from our late night. I woke up early and began to make breakfast.

As I waited for the stove to heat up, I wandered around my new home. There was no doubt that it was the biggest, most beautiful house in Tree Hill. Nathan and Haley had decorated it a sunny, cottagey feeling in light, airy colours. The floors were all painted wood.

Pictures covered many of the walls. Across one wall was a montage of pictures of Haley and Nathan in their early years. There was a picture of Sawyer on the day he was born, with a similar picture of me next to it. Further down was a picture of the two of us together, sleeping in one crib when we were each around two months old. We starred in most of the photographs-our arms clamped firmly around each other, playing games together, giving each other high fives. And the older us-Sawyer lifting me up for slam dunks, giving me running piggy back rides, even one of us awkwardly dancing together at Theresa's wedding.

My favourite pictures were that of my parents and my parents-in-law when they were younger. My mother as a blonde, her arms entwined with those of Haley and Brooke. Daddy and Mom before they got married. I came across a pencil sketch of the six of them (Mom, Daddy, Nathan, Haley, Lucas, Brooke and Mouth) sitting on a beach, staring at a dying fire. In another picture that starred Mom and Haley and Brooke, they were all three in cheerleading uniforms. I saw Nathan and Lucas in their basketball uniforms, first in high school and later in the major leagues.

I cursed as the burning smell began to waft its way toward me. I ran to the kitchen and cringed as I saw the black eggs on the frying pan.

Sawyer came up behind me, clad only in his boxers, his hair sticking up slightly.

"Hey, I thought I told you to stay out of the kitchen," he said, coming over to kiss me.

"We're going to need takeout for the rest of our lives," I complained, looking at the eggs dolefully.

"I'd rather eat takeout with you than anything else with anyone else. Come on, we'll go out," he suggested. I caught sight of his hard stomach muscles and put my hands on his neck to pull him in.

"No, let's stay in," I replied, winking.

_Author's note: I know I promised to reveal a secret before this, but the big bang is coming next chapter. And now, on to…_

_Spoilers!_

_**She** is not who you think she is._

_Brooke considers reconsidering._


	52. Chapter Fifty Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

"Cal? You in there? Get out, you've been in for hours," said Sawyer, his voice only just hearable over the hiss of the shower.

"I'm conditioning. Deal with it," I said, giggling as I applied conditioner to my hair and reached for my soap.

"Really mean that?" he asked.

"Duh. But don't flush the toilet," I instructed. He laughed, and a moment later he slid open the frosted glass door of the shower and stepped into join me. I shrieked in surprise and delight as his slick body came closer to my own.

Fifteen minutes later, I flipped my sopping hair over my shoulder, flicking him with water from it. He shook out his short dark hair like a dog, and ran his fingers through it.

"Do you have to go out?" I asked, letting my towel drop slightly.

"Yeah, we're out of milk," he said.

"Okay. Come back soon," I said silkily. We met in the middle of the room and kissed. He pulled on a shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, leaving while he was still wet.

I dried and wrapped a blanket around me as I went outside to get the mail. Summer had abandoned us and the chill of the coming months had come.

There was only one significant piece of mail, a letter from Jenny. I ran inside to read it.

_Mrs. Scott, _

_ That's so freaking weird. How's married life? How's newlywed sex?_

_Speaking of which, Lyle and I finally got our act together. Sober, even! It was great. So now I've officially been with three guys. Not quite as pure as my little sister, but who is? _

_How's the baby? Have you had an ultrasound yet? Are you going to find out the gender before it's born? Daddy and Mom didn't for you and didn't for Lauren, but Nathan and Haley did for Sawyer and didn't for Tess. _

_Nikki hasn't written to me since I got here. She disappeared when she realized that I realized there was no way in hell she could pay for tuition. I don't know where I'm going back to at Christmas. I'm beginning to think that moving out was the worst decision I ever made. I should have talked to you or anyone before I did, to let some sense get into me for once._

_But I love it here. All my classes are surprisingly interesting. And my roommate, Siobhan, is pretty cool. Not as good as you though, of course. You should see how tiny our room is… maybe you can though? I'd like it if you could come visit me, sometime before your bundle of joy comes along. Are Mom and Daddy mad at you about that? Are they worried about you? Lauren must be so lonely. Tess, as well._

_Guess who's here? I think you can. Anyway, got to go. _

_Love,_

_ Jenny_

I read her letter and read it again. My eyes paused at the line in which she mentioned the three guys she'd been with. Rhys, of course, and Lyle. But who was the third?

The letter she'd written to me during the summer. Of course-the younger, hot guy she wouldn't go into details about.

I went upstairs to our room to rummage through a box, eventually uncovering another box, this filled with letters and other things special to me. I picked up one of the most recent I'd gotten, and replaced it with the letter she'd just written me.

_I won't even tell you his name, because you'd be mad at me, but he's so very hot and a bit younger._

My eyes had skimmed through the line when I'd first read it, but I read it carefully. Why couldn't she tell me his name? Why did she think I'd care? For it to matter, it would have to be someone I knew. Someone I cared about.

My hands flew to the letter directly above the one I'd just picked out. My eyes skimmed through the letter written in my husband's round, even writing until I found what I was looking for:

_We stopped in to visit Jenny on the way here, she's doing good, said to pass on a 'hello'._

My head pounded as I strained to remember everything they had each said about the mystery person they'd hooked up with during the summer. They couldn't possibly have done this to me-they were the people I loved and trusted above all else, and they knew it well. I thought of the fight Sawyer and I had had on the basketball court, when he'd confessed his summer activity.

How had I been so blind? The clues had been right in front of my eyes all along. How had they both tricked me so thoroughly?

"Squirt!" came an expectant voice. An unexpected wave of love swept through me, almost taking my breath.

I heard his footsteps on the floorboards-his large, wide, running shoe clad feet trudging up the stairs to meet his wife to resume the activities of the half hour ago. What a difference a half hour could make.

He entered the room and his eyes immediately sought me, sitting cross legged on the edge of the bed. He walked over and smiled. I purposefully kept my head bent. His hand crept under my chin, but I slapped it away.

"What's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"Did you sleep with Jenny?" I asked, finally lifting my head to capture his cobalt blue eyes. His eyes plunged into surprise, denial and finally fear. He took a long time to answer.

"Yes," he said softly. I screamed and my hand shot out to hit him. He caught it with his own hand and held it firmly. My other hand flew in to hurt him, and he caught it just as easily. I struggled against his hold, and he pushed me back onto the bed.

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake," he said. I shrieked again, and he transferred one of my wrists to his other hand so he had a free one to cover my mouth. I writhed under his strong hold.

"We were drunk. I was missing you. We decided the next morning that it meant nothing. I would have told you, but she didn't want you to know," he said.

"You married me under a lie," I said, when at last he'd peeled his hand away from my mouth, my wrists still captured in his hand, making me completely immobile.

"You already knew that I hadn't been abstinent during the summer," he said.

"Jenny's my sister," I reminded him. A tear threatened to escape from my eye.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said.

"I want a divorce," I whispered. His eyes grew wide with shock and fear as the phone rang. Reflectively he grabbed it and pressed a button to answer it, still staring into my eyes.

"What? Mom? Slow down. What… God. Is she okay..? We'll be right there," he said.

"What's wrong?" I asked suspiciously. He stared at the phone in his hand.

"Tess. There's been an accident," he said dully. The tear escaped my eye and another joined it.

"Turn me loose," I said. He compiled easily, and released my wrists. I rubbed them to give them back feeling before going onto my knees. With me kneeling on the edge of the bed and him standing, he was still taller than me. I put my arms around his neck and leaned into him. Hesitantly, I rested my head on his chest and his arms found their way around me.


	53. Chapter Fifty Three

Chapter Fifty-Three

_Author's note: I just read the fourth chapter of a story by a very good auther, BrookenLucas12, who is one of my favourites and I find out she mentioned me in it. I love it when you guys do that. Thanks! I hate to be all neurotic and I know everyone has the right to write whatever, but don't you find it kind of annoying when a summary includes the words 'I suck at summaries' or something similar? I find it a huge turnoff to a story. Anyway…_

The car screeched to a halt in front of the ER and the two of us leapt out of Sawyer's car, grabbing hands before racing into the waiting room.

Aunt Haley was sobbing onto Nathan's shoulder. Sawyer clenched my hand tightly. He assumed what I'd already taken for granted.

Haley leapt up when she saw her son, and put her arms around him, still crying. Nathan put his hand on her shoulder, and the three of were encircled with each other. After another moment, Haley put her other arm around me, cried into both of our shoulders.

"What did they tell you?" asked Sawyer, shepherding his parents back to the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

"Nothing! They just called to tell us that Tessa Lydia Scott had been in a car accident and we needed to come down here!" said Haley.

"If they haven't gotten you to fill out any forms yet it probably means that they don't have to operate," I interjected helpfully. I ran a hand through my hair and met Sawyer's eyes painfully.

"Or that she's dead!" burst out Haley.

"Hales…" said Nathan comfortingly.

"Tess isn't dead," said Sawyer. Haley smiled slightly at him.

"I'll go get us some coffee," I said after hours had passed and nothing more had happened.

"I'll come," volunteered Sawyer. I sent him a scathing look over my shoulder, unable to tell him to piss off. It wasn't the time to inform his parents that we were splitting up.

"I'm sorry Callie," he said, as soon as we had rounded a corner and were out of earshot.

"So not the time Dan Scott," I bit back.

"What?" came a voice from behind me. Sawyer and I both turned our heads to look. A tall man with graying dark hair was striding down the hall, followed by a petite blonde.

"Grandpa?" asked Sawyer in surprise.

"Sawyer. Callie. Congratulations," he said. Deb, who had been at the ceremony, smiled and hugged both of us.

"Thanks. What are you doing here?" I asked. I didn't forget that the last time I'd seen him.

"My granddaughter is here," he reminded me.

"Oh, you've met her before?" I shot back. He raised his eyebrows.

"Callie," said Sawyer gently, putting his hand on my arm. I resisted the urge to shake him off.

"Whatever. Nathan and Haley are down the hall to the right. We don't know anything yet," I said, as Deb opened her mouth to speak. He took her elbow and the two of them walked quickly away from us.

"Callie…" began Sawyer.

"Don't even talk to me," I said viciously. I walked several more feet, but stopped when I noticed he'd stopped walking. I turned slowly to face him and took in his sad eyes, his tense face. I forced myself to remember that his sister was possibly dying. I walked slowly back to him and as I had before, put my arms around him and pressed up against him, hugging him tightly.

"She's going to be okay," I said, as gently as I was able.

"How do you know? And we're not okay," he said.

"We'll deal with us later. Right now, she needs us," I said. As we let go off each other, I ran my hand down his arm, bringing it to rest once it was folded in his own hand.

We arrived back five minutes later. Haley and Nathan looked incredibly stressed, and didn't notice we'd returned until we sat down beside them.

"Any news?" asked Sawyer.

"She's fine. Her wrist is broken and she lost some blood, but she'll be fine," said Nathan.

"So what's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," said Haley quickly.

"Then why do you still look so worried?" asked Sawyer.

"Sawyer, it's nothing. She's fine, she's great, we've all been here for hours, just go home. We'll call you in the morning," said Haley sharply.

"Mom?" asked Sawyer in surprise. She buried her face in her hands.

"We'll call you, your mother's just stressed," said Nathan. Sawyer nodded slowly and followed me back out to the car.

"So what now?" Sawyer asked, after we'd stopped in front of the house. I looked sideways at him. His hair was mussed, he looked years younger than he was, like a little boy who'd gotten lost in the grocery store. His hands were on his knees, sitting slightly awkwardly. Sawyer was a big, muscular guy and had problems with cars sometimes.

"I'm pregnant. We're having a baby. There is nothing to do. I'm going to give you a second chance. Don't ever sleep with Jenny. Or Lauren. Or anyone else. Ever," I said sternly.

"I won't," he said. He leaned over, but I stopped him by pressing a finger on his lips.

"No," I said simply.

The two of us walked into the house. I unlocked it with my key, and we dropped onto the first sofas we encountered.

"I wonder why Mom and Dad are so stressed," said Sawyer.

"She was in an accident," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but she's okay. They should have at least been relieved," he said.

"Maybe something Dan said?" I suggested.

"Usually always is. Are you hungry?" he asked.

"No. I'm going to bed," I said, standing.

I ran up the stairs and changed quickly into a decent pair of pajamas before getting into my side of the huge bed. I turned off the light and rolled over onto my side, hoping sleep would come to me.

It didn't. When Sawyer entered, a half hour later, I was still wide awake. I heard him strip down to his boxers. I felt the covers ripple softly against my skin as he turned them down, and I sat up quickly.

"No."

"What?" he asked in confusion, his eyes still adjusting to the dark.

"You slept with my sister. You're not coming in my bed tonight," I instructed. I threw him a pillow and he caught it against his chest in surprise.

"I can't even sleep here?"

"No. There's a very nice sofa over there though," I reminded him, indicating the far wall of the room. Slowly he backed off and lay down on it. His tall frame didn't come close to fitting it, but there was no way he was touching me after what he'd done.

I woke up early the next morning to catch the first shower. The first day of school had finally come. I showered, blow dried my hair and put on my makeup before my husband got up and had his own shower.

We ate silently. He rationed himself to one glance of my denim mini skirt and tight shirt. After we'd had our breakfast, we both grabbed our bags and headed outside.

"Which car?" he asked at last. I looked at him in surprise-the morning had been almost silent. I walked to mine and stepped in. He quickly made his way to the passenger side.

I hesitantly took his hand as we pulled into the school parking lot. He smiled down at me, dropped my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, taking my bag from me. His hand grazed my stomach as I did so, and I looked down at it and smiled.

We were quickly surrounded by a crowd of the most elite seniors. For the first time, I became aware of how much being a Scott affected your life, how it gave you a completely different status. Callie Jagielski had been one of the most popular juniors, Callie Scott was invincible, _the_ most popular senior.

Our group dispersed into different hallways. Sawyer and I stopped at the long list of names posted with corresponding locker numbers. My fingers went immediately to the J's, but only one Jagielski was listed-Lauren. My eyes scanned the list again.

"Cal…" said Sawyer gently. He pointed to the name right above his-Calista Scott. I blushed.

The two of us began to unload our books into our lockers, which were unsurprisingly side by side. As we did, seniors and juniors constantly came up to us and we talked with our friends, our enemies and the wannabes.

"Callie!" came a call. I turned around and smiled.

"John!" I said happily. He was more tanned than he had been. We hugged.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm good. And you?" I asked.

"Great. Um, my locker's over there," he said. He pointed directly across the hall.

"Cool," I said. I locked eyes with Sawyer and raised my eyebrows. Sighing almost inaudibly, he shook hands with John and smiled tightly.

"Hey," came another, softer voice.

"Tess?" I said in surprise, embracing her. "You're back already?"

Her wrist was in a sling, and she looked slightly bruised, but was smiling bravely.

"I'm good. But Mom and Dad are furious," she said.

"Because you were in an accident?" asked Sawyer in surprise. Her eyes widened.

"Never mind," she said quickly, with the appearance of someone covering her tracks.

"Hey Tess," said John, to follow up the awkward silence that followed.

"Hey John. Um, anyone going into the vicinity of 203? I have no idea where it is," she said, looking around. The three of us glanced down at the papers we held.

"Oh, I'm in 202. Come on," said John. The two of them smiled before leaving together.

"You could afford to be nicer to him," I said.

"He's in love with you," he reminded me.

"Just a little. Besides, Cooper Anderson is in love with me and you helped him pass PE," I said.

"Cooper Anderson has never had the courage to say a single word to you. John Fenning is one of your best friends. He's also six feet and a varsity basketball player," he reminded me.

"And you think my affections are based solely on looks?" I said coyly. His arm slipped from my shoulders to my waist, and he pulled me in close, pressing his lips gently on mine.

I glanced around the crowded hallway. I was surprised they'd not burst into applause when we'd finished.

My phone rang and Sawyer's arm fell from my waist. I reached into my locker to answer it, but glanced at the screen first-J. Jagielski. Suddenly I had an image of them together, and looked back up at him. He was smiling down at me, his hand absently playing with the bottom of my shirt. I swatted it away.

The bell rang and we set off for homeroom. On the way, we encountered Lauren. She threw herself at me, her blonde curls bouncing. I hugged her in surprise.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm lonely. Can't you come home?" she asked.

"Uh, no. How are Mom and Daddy?"

"They're good. They miss you," she said. Her eyes caught sight of someone beyond my left shoulder. I spun around, afraid of what I'd see. Jason Winters walked up, looked me up and down, looked her up and down, and slung his arm about her shoulders.

"Hey babe," he greeted her.

"We've got to get to class," I informed them. At the end of last year, they hadn't done anything in public. Apparently something had changed.

"I hate that guy," said Sawyer, after we'd parted ways.

"Me too," I agreed.

"Every time he looks at Tess, Lauren, or even you like that… he's just so arrogant. Who was that on the phone?" he asked.

"Jenny."

"Ah. Do you want to talk about that?" he asked nervously.

"About how you slept with my sister after you promised, time and time again that you felt nothing for her?" I asked.

"I don't!"

"Was she better than me?" I demanded.

"Callie, I love you. No one is," he said. He took my surprise and annoyance as his advantage: while I stared at him, flustered, he took the opportunity to tilt my chin upwards and lower his lips to mine. As we kissed and I felt the tingling in my spine, the thumping of my heart, traces of indignation were lost to me.

"Some thing lie. That never does," he said.


	54. Chapter Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Four

I smiled as John Fenning slid in beside me at the cafeteria later that day.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I'm good," he responded. "How are you doing?"

"Sawyer slept with Jenny before we were married," I revealed.

"That stupid bastard. Are you splitting?" he asked curiously.

"I don't think so. We can't really."

"Callie…" he began.

I looked at him closely. He looked tense and slightly intimidated. The hundreds of teenagers surrounding us seemed to make him even more nervous.

"John, what's up?" I asked curiously, placing a hand on his shoulder. I withdrew it quickly.

"Are you pregnant?" he asked, lowering his voice at the last word.

"Yeah," I said easily. I figured that all of Tree Hill knew or guessed. He was a Scott, after all.

"Congratulations," he said.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"No, really. You love him, no matter what he did last summer. I want you to be happy," he said. I smiled.

"He thinks you're in love with me," I admitted.

"Of course he does. Sawyer has trouble believing anyone could possibly not be in love with you," he said. We both waved to Tess, who was walking across the terrace holding her lunch tray. I frowned as I saw Jason purposefully look away from her.

"You know who I hate? Jason Winters," I said.

"Why?"

"Because. He deflowered my baby sister. And he cheated on Tess, who's like a sister," I said.

"Jason's like that," he said.

"What, you know him?" I asked in surprise. John raised his eyebrows at me.

"Uh, yeah. He's my brother," he said. I choked on my gulp of juice.

"How is that possible? You have different last names!" I said, when at last I could breath again.

"Well, we're half brothers. Same Mom, different Dads. Mom divorced my Dad after he lost his money," he said.

"Wow. I'm sorry," I said.

"That's okay. Jason is an ass. His Dad's a bit of an ass," he admitted.

"A rich ass," I reminded him.

"Hell yes. I mean, look at the kid," he said, disgust tinged in his voice. I looked-Jason was smothered in labels and electronics. His hair was long and stylishly unkempt.

"She's only fourteen," I said despairingly.

"You're seventeen. And married," he reminded me.

"And pregnant. But as you most likely know, I was a virgin up until just a few weeks ago, so I'm good.

"So why did he sleep with your sister?" asked John.

"Oh, they met up at her summer job, got pissed and just did it. We were broken up, but still…" I said, sighing.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm pregnant, and I do love him. And I was so mad at him, and then we found out about Tess and it kind of melted away," I said, sighing again.

"Tess told me everything," he said, his face guarded.

"I love Tess. She's like a sister to me," I said.

"She's cool. Um…" he said awkwardly. I turned around on my seat and squinted in the sun as Sawyer walked up to us.

"Uh, everyone's over there…" he said awkwardly. I smiled apologetically as I took Sawyer's hand to help me up.

"By John, I'll talk to you later, okay?" I said. He nodded, and acknowledged Sawyer briefly.

"Did you have a good morning?" I asked Sawyer.

"Missed you," he said, intertwining his fingers with mine.

"You're sweet. Oh, I'm getting a Coke, I'll meet you back at the table," I said, the vending machine distracting me. He nodded and kissed my fingers before letting go of my hand.

I went to the vending machine and stared at the long line of buttons. I didn't actually want a coke. A Sprite, maybe. Or an ice tea.

I decided on an iced tea and turned away from the machine. As I heard someone pound their fist on the front of the machine and swear, as I'd done on so many occasions, I laughed and turned around.

"Um, it's kind of faulty. You might want to try to get your money back and go for another drink-the Mountain Dew is harder to get," I said, giggling.

"Thanks, I'll try that. What's your name?" asked the boy that turned around to face me. He was about 5"10, much shorter than Sawyer. He had blonde hair and a very dark tan, and the body of a swimmer who spent a lot of time on his body.

"Callie Scott," I introduced myself, sticking out my hand. He shook it.

"Hello, Callie Scott. I've even heard about the Scotts already. I'm Mark Delaurier," he said.

"Hey. Your first day here?" I asked.

"Yeah. Not you, I'm guessing?" he asked. I laughed again.

"Hardly. I'm cheerleading captain and a shoe in for prom queen, of course," I said, striking a slight pose. "Yeah, I've lived here all my life."

"Have most people? It seems like a hard place to get accepted in to," he said.

"It is. At least, it is if you want to be someone in the A list," I explained.

"I don't care greatly," he said. He glanced over my shoulder and seemed to pale slightly as two arms wound around my neck and Sawyer Scott's body pressed up against mine.

"Hey, this is a new guy, Mark," I said, greeting him without seeing his face.

"Hey. Nice to meet you, Mark," greeted Sawyer.

"And this is Sawyer Scott," I introduced him.

"Scott. Your..?" he asked, looking decidedly confused. Sawyer answered as I put my left hand on the arm that was about my neck, flashing my diamond.

"Husband."

"Wow. Uh, nice to meet you both," he said awkwardly. I waved my hand slightly at him as he left quickly. I spun around. Sawyer's arms stayed around my neck.

"You're territorial and insane," I accused.

"You're being accusatory. Come on, I'll go talk meaninglessly with some girl and let you get jealous," he suggested. I laughed in spite of myself. I put my arm on his shoulder and we walked over to our table.

"So, how's married life?" asked one of the girls, ten minutes later.

"It's good. He's a damn good dishwasher," I joked. The full table laughed.

"How's the newlywed sex?" asked one of Sawyer's jock friends crudely. I threw a carrot at him and turned toward my girlfriends.

"So, what is he like?" asked one of them, Tara, glancing guiltily at Sawyer.

"I wouldn't know, I don't have anything to compare it to," I said innocently.

"Sure. John Fenning?" asked another, Allie.

"As if."

"Eli Hutchings?" asked another curiously.

"Bad kisser," I responded easily. Eli glanced over and blushed.

"Okay, Michael Harvey," said Sasha, with the appearance of triumph.

"He never even got my shirt off," I said proudly.

"Wow. So Sawyer's good?" asked Tara, bringing us back to the original topic.

"Of course. Not many guys have slept with so many of the girls in the high school," I said, raising my voice. Sawyer turned away from his guys and kissed me lightly.

"So do you guys do oral?" asked Allie. I scoffed.

"God no. I'm not a whore," I joked.

"Yeah, you're just a prude," joked my little sister, Lauren.

"You're mean. How are Mom and Daddy?" I asked, as the conversation went towards mini skirts.

"Oh, they're lonely. They're paying freakish amounts of attention to me," she said dramatically.

"Poor thing. Have you talked to Jenny?" I asked.

"Yeah. She says you're avoiding her calls?" she said curiously.

"Did she say that she slept with Sawyer during summer break?" I asked, lowering my voice.

"Um."

"Lauren! You knew?" I accused angrily.

"Um."

"Who else knew?" I demanded.

"Er."

"I can't believe you people. So did Daddy knew, when he pressured me into getting married?" I asked.

"No."

"Are you capable of saying more than one word of a time?" I asked, leaning back into my chair and sighing. She smiled.

"Yes."


	55. Chapter Fifty Five

Chapter Fifty-Five

"You've slept with Ariana Gregory?" I demanded heatedly. The two of us were standing on opposite sides of the kitchen, and I was screaming at him.

"Who hasn't?" he said defensively.

"She's a whore! And I mean a literal whore! She trades sex for grades, money, drugs…"

"She didn't pay me," he stated.

"Oh, and that makes it better?" I yelled.

"Well yeah," he said.

"A whore!" I said again in disbelief.

"Your sister's mother was a whore," he reminded me. I reached out to slap him, but he caught my wrist easily.

"Treat others as you want to be treated, Cal. I'm sorry, but come on, it was a year ago. It really, really doesn't matter," he said.

"How many have there been?" I asked.

"Um, her, Stacey Young, Mariah Peters, Kimberly West, Ursula Cooley, Ryan Ricketts…" he said embarrassedly.

"My God. Plus all the ones you can't remember, because you were drunk," I said in disbelief.

"Plus them."

"Plus Jenny," I said. He paused.

"Plus her. You know how much I love you?" he asked.

"Shut up, we're fighting. I'm beginning to think that this was a mistake," I said, sighing and sitting on the counter.

"Us? Getting married? The timing isn't exactly ideal, but we're in love and you're having a baby. What's inopportune about that?" he asked.

"See, the thing is, I don't think I am," I said. He paled more, if possible, than he had when I'd told him I was pregnant. Or thought I was.

"Not having a baby. How is that possible?" he asked shakily.

"Come on, it's kind of obvious. Ever since those tests, I haven't felt remotely different. I haven't thrown up once, I'm no more emotional than I was, nothing. I think the tests were wrong," I said.

"It was three tests. How can three tests with a ninety-nine percent accuracy all be wrong?" he asked. He took my shoulders.

"It's possible. Rare, but possible," I said, with forced calm. When I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't, I'd cried for hours.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Now, we don't have to be married. I'm getting out," I said. I calmly picked up my bag from the table and began to walk toward the front door.

For a long time I didn't hear him follow me. I walked out of the kitchen, through the dining room and into the main floor hall and began to walk down it. I slipped on my shoes and my hand hovered on the doorknob.

My heart lifted as I heard his running footsteps finally coming for me. I began to push the door open, but he came up behind me and turned me to face him. I tilted my head up in time for his lips to come crashing down to meet mine passionately and lovingly. I put my arms around his neck, and he bent slightly to swing my legs onto his other arm, placing his right one on my shoulders while I clung to his neck. He took me in his arms upstairs, and placed me on the bed that was ours before getting on it himself.

I took of my shirt and fumbled with his own while his hands went to the zipper of my skirt. As he took it off me his lips and hands were already at work, rubbing the places that made me feel the best. He put one hand in between my legs while his other undid my bra strap in one clean, practiced motion.

My moans seemed to arouse him as his lips trailed down my abdomen to my pierced belly button. I wrapped a leg around his waist and kissed his neck while I braced myself for the warmth that was about to follow.

The warm feeling spread around my whole body as he moved around inside of me. I felt his weight on top of me, all of him pressing onto me.

Finally he stopped and rolled over to the side. We were both panting heavily.

"I don't think I'm capable of leaving you," I said.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," he responded.

"You know if I'm not pregnant, we've been having constant unprotected sex for weeks?" I commented.

"It had occurred to me. That was the best we'd ever done," he said.

"Yeah. By far. You know Jenny told me that the first time she did it, it lasted about two seconds?" I said.

"Yeah. I guess it's not such a bad thing that I've had so much experience," he said, laughing.

"Not at all," I agreed, surprising him by climbing up and sitting astride his chest..

"You know, naked ice cream is better than clothed ice cream," I observed. Much later, we were in our kitchen, eating Haagen Daaz out of the container.

"Mm. I guess it depends on who you're naked with," he said.

"Funny. By the way, just so you know, I have no intention of sleeping with Mark Delaurier or John Fenning," I clarified.

"Good to hear. I know it's a complete double standard, but I'm glad you were never with anyone else. I don't think I'd have been able to handle that," he admitted.

"I'm glad I never did either. God, I'm covered in…" I said, trailing off while I looked at my very naked body in the mirror. My neck had a very noticeable hickey on it.

"I missed you," he said.

"For the whole forty eight hours we didn't do it in," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah. I can't believe we went so long without realizing," he said. I thought of all the times we'd spent together, being so physically and mentally close. All the times it would have been so easy for just one little kiss that would establish everything. Years we'd wasted. Or had we? Sawyer's friendship had been one of the most worthwhile parts of my life for years.

"I think everyone else did," I said, giggling. I thought of the time Jenny had accused me of being in love with him, after the wedding when Lauren had discovered his crush on Jenny. What she'd said about the age we'd marry.

"Yeah. All my friends thought I was insane, for not trying to hook up with you," he said.

"You were. I'm quite the catch," I said.

"How well I know it," he responded, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me onto his lap.

"Are you disappointed? That I'm not having a baby?" I asked anxiously.

"It would have changed our lives completely. We wouldn't be able to wander around naked or have spontaneous sex, or go out wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. But I would have loved it, and we would have loved each other even more because of it," he said.

"Someday," I promised.

"Have you spoken to Jenny?" he asked. I shook my head. "You should."

"I can't. Your were my ex at the time, and technically you were entitled, especially if it was only once, but she's my sister. My sister, Sawyer. She shouldn't have," I said sadly.

"It was a mistake," he admitted.

"It was more than that. She betrayed me. Sisters are more important than friends, even more important than lovers in some senses. She's going to have to understand that. And pay for that," I said coolly.

_Author's note: You may have wanted to shield your eyes for this one. I think it's still appropriate for the age group, but I'm not quite sure. _

3


	56. Chapter Fifty Six

Chapter Fifty-Six

_We haven't talked for a while. What's up Squirt?_

_Jenny_

After scanning the one line email, I deleted it immediately.

Sawyer was listening to the messages when I wandered into the kitchen. He rewound when I got there, and replayed the message he'd been listening to.

"_Hey Cal, Sawyer, what's up? Haven't heard from you in weeks. I'm getting worried. Call me, little sis."_

"So are you ever going to talk to her?" asked Sawyer, putting his arms around me as I went to sit on his lap.

"Not right now," I said stubbornly. He put his chin on my head.

"Just to play devil's advocate…" he began.

"Don't bother. And we have to go," I said, cutting him off before he could begin.

"Yeah, you ready?" he asked. We were going to my parent's house for dinner with our family and his. He glanced at my white sundress and smiled.

"Yeah, you?" I asked. He nodded, smoothed out his pants (khakis-I'd practically had to force them onto him) and helped me up before standing himself.

"You look beautiful. Come on, Mrs. Scott," he said. I took his arm and smiled up at him.

We tensely waited in front of the door twenty minutes later. They still didn't know I wasn't pregnant.

Mom answered, and looked surprised when she did.

"Why did you just ring?" she asked curiously.

"Because I don't live here," I said. Her face fell slightly, but she repaired it and beckoned the two of us in.

Daddy was sitting with Nathan and Haley on the sofas in the living room. Daddy bounced up when we arrived, and hugged me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked nervously. I swallowed nervously, and caught sight of Haley sending me a sympathetic glance.

"I'm fine," I said simply.

"Really? Good, I thought that the first few months were the hardest," said Haley.

"Guys…" I began nervously. Mom appeared around the corner.

"Dinner!" she announced cheerily. Tess and Lauren came running from upstairs. The five of us in the living room proceeded into the dining room.

The meal was awkward and interminable. No one could grow accustomed to the feel of our separation from our families. So many topics were off limits-Jason Winters, Jenny, Nikki, Dan, Tess' accident.

"Anything new with you guys? Been to the doctor yet?" asked Mom finally. Sawyer took my hand in comfort under the table.

"Mom, Daddy… everyone, I have something to say," I said. I weakly looked sideways at Sawyer, who squeezed my hand and took over for me:

"Callie isn't pregnant. It was a fluke," he said. Haley's mouth dropped open, full of food. Mom looked up and stared blankly. Tess and Lauren simultaneously dropped their forks.

"How is that possible?" asked Daddy finally.

"It can happen. Either I was never pregnant, or I miscarried. I think I never was pregnant, because I never felt pregnant," I explained.

"How do you feel about that?" asked Mom.

"Ripped off! You guys forced me to get married for what turns out to be no reason at all! When, by the way, you knew all along that the guy you were pressuring me into had slept with my sister!" I said, my voice losing it's calm edge. Haley and Daddy winced while both of their spouses turned to them.

"You knew?" asked Nathan and Mom at the same time.

"I knew," said Lauren.

"Me too," added Tess.

"You did that to your wife?" demanded Nathan, staring at his son.

"She wasn't my wife. She wasn't even my girlfriend," he said. Nathan relaxed.

"Nice," he said sarcastically, clearly having granted some degree of forgiveness to his son.

"What? Nathan, what are you on? Sawyer slept with Jenny! His ex's sister! How can you just let that slide?" asked Mom, thumping her napkin onto the table. Tess looked up, eyes wide.

"We've slept together. It was a stupid thing to do, but they were broken up. I mean…" said Nathan.

"Nathan! Do you realize how completely irrelevant this is? Callie, you're certain you're not pregnant?" asked Haley gently.

"Yeah. I um… started today," I said. She covered her face in her hands before glancing upwards.

"Oh thank God," she whispered.

"Mom?" asked Sawyer in surprise.

"Hales?" asked Nathan worriedly. She looked up, shocked and quickly began to cover her tracks.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"I just told you I'm not pregnant and you can't even pretend to be remorseful?" I demanded. She touched my hand from across the table.

"No sweetie, never. This is something else," she said.

"What else?" asked Sawyer.

"Nothing," said Haley and Nathan at the same time. We heard a thump from the corner of the table, and all looked in surprise. Tess had stood angrily, her dark hair flying and her brown eyes flashing.

"No. I'm tired of your protecting me. Everyone…" she said. Haley cut her off.

"Tess!" she cried in anguish.

"I'm pregnant," she said simply. My hand, still in Sawyer's, was suddenly squeezed sharply. Mom pinched the skin between her eyebrows.

"Who's?" asked Lauren tactlessly. Tess raised an eyebrow at her.

"Jason's. He's the only guy I've ever been with," she stated.

"When?" asked Sawyer.

"Summer camp," she replied. Lauren sputtered.

"Summer...! Like, a few months ago? What the hell? How could he?" she said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Tess.

"He cheated on me!" cried Lauren.

"Sounds like he cheated on Tess, then you, then Tess again," said Sawyer.

"What are you going to do?" I asked curiously.

"We're going to get married," she said. Nathan scoffed.

"No you're not," he said. Her mouth dropped open.

"What are you talking about? You let Callie and Sawyer," she reminded her father.

"I'm aware. But Sawyer and Callie are in love. And Sawyer can be depended upon," said Nathan.

"So can Jason!" cried Tess in denial.

"Sweetie, I love you but the guy cheated on your repeatedly. He's not someone to be trusted," said Haley.

"I don't believe that," said Tess.

"It's true," whispered Lauren, seeming to realize the insignificance of her broken heart compared to the dilemma of her best friend.

"He said he'd marry me," said Tess again. Sawyer looked up and stared at his baby sister, so distraught yet trusting of the arrogant high school boy.

"He won't. He disappeared yesterday. I'm surprised you guys don't know yet," said Sawyer.


	57. Chapter Fifty Seven

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Shell shocked, we all departed in different directions at the end of the night.

Sawyer and I were too tired, confused and surprised by the day's events to have a particularly exciting night, but we went to school the next day, pretending to forget everything that had gone so, so wrong.

Sawyer went off to Algebra, but I had a first period spare. My feet took me to Uncle Nathan's office. I knocked timidly on the door.

When I entered, he was staring at the pictures on his desk. I glanced at them-one of me and Sawyer, pre us, with me on his back, wearing a candy necklace at a festival. One of him and his wife on his wedding day. And a third of Tess and Sawyer, posing for a professional photograph when they had been tiny. He stared the hardest at this one.

"How long have you known?" I asked.

"When she was in the accident, the hospital ran a blood test. It made it fairly obvious," he said.

"What are you going to do?"

"She has our support to keep the kid. We'll help her out as much as we can, try and keep her in school. She'll pull through this, she won't have to do it alone," he said.

"Yeah she will," I whispered. He jerked his head up. "When I thought I was pregnant I didn't want to marry your son because I thought I was too young, but I also knew, from what Mom had told me, that everyone needs their parents at least partially involved in their lives. Eventually, she's going to have to do it on her own," I said.

"You're all grown up kid," he said, smiling. I noticed, for the thousandth time, how much Sawyer looked like him.

"I have to go find someone," I said suddenly. He nodded and I ran out of the room.

John Fenning was sitting by himself on a picnic table outside, working on science homework. I sat down next to him.

"Where's your brother?" I asked.

"Ah. I take it you know?" he asked nervously.

"We all do now. She already told you? Where's Jason?" I asked again.

"Mom won't tell me. I think she's worried I'll go find him, at boarding school or wherever, and kick his ass from here to Canada. That's true," he said. I giggled in spite of myself.

"She's going to have to do it all by herself?" I said sadly.

"No."

"No?" I asked, perplexed.

"No. I'll help her. I decided last night. I'm going to be there for her. I'm going to go to the hospital, hold back her hair, change diapers if I have to," he said, looking past me to the brilliant blue sky.

"Why? I mean, it's incredible, but this isn't your responsibility," I breathed.

"Sure it is. At least partially. Tess' kid is my niece or nephew. And she needs someone, someone who isn't a parent, and I'm here for her. I always will be," he promised.

"You're such a great guy. Have you told her?" I asked.

"She already knows," he said quietly. I leaned forward and put my arms around him. For a moment he leaned in, held me tightly, before pulling away quite suddenly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Sawyer wouldn't like that," he said tightly.

"I don't care. He doesn't own me," I said.

"Doesn't he?" said John, his mouth twitching ironically.

"No. Why are you being like this?" I demanded.

"Like the only girl I've ever loved has married someone else? Like my little brother has knocked up her sister? Like I'm being forced to make decisions I shouldn't have to concentrate on for another five years?" he said.

"I'm sorry," I said. He pushed a gentle finger to my lips.

"Don't be. You're one of my best friends, Callie. That means a lot to me. If you'll let me, I'll be your friend always," he said.

"I wish I could offer you more," I said.

"Don't sweat it. I'll go down in Tree Hill history as a guy who actually dated a Scott girl," he said.

"I wasn't one then," I reminded him.

"You've always been," he said. For some reason, I didn't press him for an explanation.

My cell phone rang, throwing the moment into the wind. I reached distractedly into my bag and answered it.

"Cal? My God, where have you been girl? I've been trying to talk to you for weeks," came Jenny's familiar voice. I felt my face harden.

"I have nothing to say to you," I said coolly.

"What?"

"You slept with Sawyer," I reminded her. Deep down, until I'd said that, I'd hoped it wasn't true. Her silence confirmed it.

"I'm sorry," she said finally.

"Sorry? You slept with Sawyer Scott and you say sorry? I was in love with him! You knew I was in love with him! You knew even before I did that he was the love of my life! And you say sorry?" I yelled. John stared nervously into my face.

"It was an accident," she tried again.

"What, that you fell into bed and started licking each other? Bull," I said.

"We were drunk."

"God Jenny, stop digging! There's nothing you can say to make this better!" I said, a tear running down my face.

"I'm coming home," she said. I clicked the phone off. In real, actual life, had she actually said that?

"What happened?" asked John tensely.

"She's coming back," I volunteered.

"Oh. Probably a good thing," he said.

"Right. By the way, did you say you were in love with me?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said slowly.

"Sawyer says the same thing. I'm sorry if I've led you on," I said.

"It's not your fault that you're you and I'm me. Or that you love him and always will, and I'm destined for other things," he said.

"I don't put so much faith into fate," I said.

"Yes you do," he said. I smiled.

"Maybe. Goodbye, John," I said.

"What?"

"We can't be friends anymore," I said sadly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"You know!"

"Because I'm in love with you? That doesn't concern our friendship!" he cried.

"Sure it does. Look," I instructed. Taking a breath, I leaned forward and gently kissed his lips. His mouth opened slightly under mine, and I felt him try to open my mouth for a second before I pulled away.

"I'm sorry, but it does nothing for me, and seems to do slightly more for you," I said, standing. I glanced back at the building as I did, suddenly coming to a horrible realization as I realized who occupied it. Who was in Algebra. Who always sat by the window in Algebra. Who would much, much rather stare out the window than listen to his teacher.


	58. Chapter Fifty Eight

Chapter Fifty Eight

_This chapter is dedicated to Nathen'sraven because it is her birthday and because it she is awesome. And to BrookenLucas12: go right ahead._

I waited nervously outside Sawyer's math class, anxiously anticipating the moment he'd appear. I pictured it in my mind: his fury, first at John and then at me. My pleading. My explanation. His pain. Then we'd make out. Right?

I wrung my hands anxiously as the bell rang and students began to pour out into the hall. Sawyer was the third to appear. I ran to him and began to speak.

"Sawyer I'm so sorry, I…"

"Hey babe. What's wrong?" he asked, taking my hand and kissing my cheek. He didn't know. He hadn't seen.

"Nothing," I said, quickly and guiltily.

"Cool. So, I have basketball practice after school," he began.

"And I have cheerleading. That works," I said brightly. He stopped and went in front of my to look closer at my face.

"You okay? You're kind of red," he said.

"I went running," I lied quickly. He brushed a curl away from my eyes.

"Sounds fun. Have you talked to your Mom?" he asked.

"No, but I have another spare, last period. I was going to go then, before practice," I said.

"Sounds good. And Jenny?" he asked.

"Maybe in ten years," I suggested, as we reached Chemistry class.

The two of us took seats beside each other.

"Welcome to grade twelve Chem lab. I'm going to assign lab partners and we're going to have the first lab on Monday. Consider your partners final," said the teacher shortly. I looked sideways and smiled slightly-we'd been made partners in everything so far, the alphabetical system worked for us.

He read off a long list of name. I turned in surprise when Sawyer's name was mentioned alongside a boy in our class. We raised eyebrows at each other. Finally my name was mentioned:

"Callie Scott and Mark Delaurier," he recited. I looked up and across the aisle. Marks' ocean blue eyes met him, and he shrugged before smiling. I smiled back before I noticed my husband's piercing gaze on me.

Hours later, after chem. Lab and the entire rest of the day, I found myself on the front stoop of my parent's house. My hand hovered at the doorbell before I pushed the door open.

"Mom?" I called. She came running, and hugged me when she saw me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked anxiously.

"Oh, about the soap opera? I'm all good. I want to talk to you about Jenny," I said. She nodded slowly.

"Has she tried to explain herself yet?" she asked.

"I haven't really let her. She said she wanted to come home, and I don't want her to. I don't even want to talk to her," I said.

"You want me to?" asked Mom.

"Could you?" I asked desperately.

"I don't want to come between the two of you," she said slowly.

"Come on! If she came home, it could only harm us! She slept with him!" I cried.

"I know. I didn't know at the time, but now we all know. Yeah, I'll talk to her. I'll convince her that you can do better later if you let it rest for now," she said.

"Thanks. I love you. Now I have to go home and convince my husband that I don't want to sleep with Mark," I said distractedly. The intense look in her eyes was replaced with a slightly amused one.

"What?"

"Oh, my lab partner. Gotta go!"

Sawyer wasn't home when I arrived. I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a snack before changing into my running shoes and sweats and heading outside.

I began to run slowly along the beach, picking up speed as I went. At first I went along the sand, but eventually the tide grew higher and I went onto the boardwalk, running along the smooth wooden planks.

"Hey," came a voice from behind me, after I'd run several miles. I turned around and put my hand over my eyes to block out the sun.

"Hey Mark," I said, as my lab partner came into view.

"What's up?"

"So you're too cool for running?" I asked, indicating the skateboard he was riding.

"Nah, it's just fun. Want a ride?" he asked. I looked at the narrow board and slowly shook my head. "Come on, it won't kill you."

"No, but he will," I answered.

"Mr. Scott's mighty protective, isn't he?" he teased. I rolled my eyes, and quickly realized he'd backed me into a corner-I now couldn't refuse without looking like a loser. I nodded, put my feet on his board and tried to relax while his arms came around my body, holding me tightly to him.

I waved goodbye and ran into the house when we reached it. I stopped in the kitchen door when I saw Sawyer with his back to me, an apron around his waist, fussing with a pot on the stove.

"Hey," I said softly, thinking of how many times during the day I'd betrayed him.

"Hey," he replied, coming over to kiss me. For a moment his face and John's flashed between each other in my mind.

"Watching you cook… it's kind of sexy," I said. He dipped me and kissed me again.

"Good to hear. I was going to make a salad, so I bought all these cherry tomatoes, but I can't find any of them," he said. I blushed, thinking of the snack I'd had after school.

"I ate them," I said guiltily. He raised an eyebrow.

"You ate an entire box of cherry tomatoes, all in one sitting," he said skeptically.

"Yeah. I love cherry tomatoes. I could have eaten more," I said. He laughed.

"Guess we'll do without the salad. Come here," he requested. He put his hands on my waist and lifted me onto the marble countertop. I kissed him again and his hands went to work taking off the camisole I'd put on for running. He slipped his hand into my bra while I fussed with the buttons on his shirt and his upper body slowly came on top of mine.

"You're perfect," I said, between breaths.

"I'm glad you've finally noticed," he joked.

He was gone before I was awake the next morning, gone to meet with his own lab partner. I wandered over to the fridge and looked inside.

I smiled when I saw two full boxes of cherry tomatoes, just there for eating.

_Author's note: Sorry this took so long to get up, and that it's so short. Two things are to blame for this: exams and Adam Brody, who compels me to watch the OC all night long. Well, almost._


	59. Chapter Fifty Nine

Chapter Fifty-Nine

I cringed when I walked down the hallway and saw who was at their locker and who was not. John looked at me, looked away and looked again, nodding slightly in recognition. As I approached, Tess walked up and he took her books from her and dropped his gaze to meet her eyes, obviously asking her something about her condition.

I quickly exited the hallway the way I'd come, dodging students, most of which acknowledged me.

"Hey, Cal!"

I came face to face with my little sister. She rotated around, we linked arms and continued to walk.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Mom told me to tell you that Jenny says she won't come home," she said quietly.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," I lamented.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was just so torn-you were so in love, and Jen told me not to say. Why don't you ever come home anymore?" she asked suddenly.

"I was home last week," I reminded her.

"You used to live at home. I used to see you every day, all day long, now I only see you once a week," she complained.

"I'm married Lala. It has to be like this," I said, glancing up at her face.

"No it doesn't. You don't have to be married anymore."

You don't have to be married anymore.

You don't have to be married anymore.

_I didn't have to be married anymore._

Sawyer and I had taken two cars to school, so by the time I got home he was already there, working on his algebra homework on the kitchen table. I hopped up onto the table beside his notebook and crossed my legs.

"I kissed John Fenning," I said. The words seemed to take a long, long time to register. When they finally did, he looked up and stared.

"What?"

"And I see Mark almost every day on the boardwalk when I'm running, and sometimes he gives me rides on his skateboard," I continued.

"Why the hell did you kiss John?" he asked.

"I was proving a point. I'm going to change," I said breezily. I stood up to walk away, but he caught my arm in a grasp I couldn't shake off before I could leave the kitchen.

"Why are you telling me this?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"You obviously don't want me to know, if you did you'd have told me before. So why are you telling me?" he asked. He put his other hand on my forearm.

"Isn't that what a marriage is about?" I taunted. He dropped his face until it was only inches away from mine, our lips almost touching.

"We've gone through this Callie. The marriage was for the best," he said.

"Yeah, when I was pregnant!" I shot back.

"And now. How many more times are we going to do this?" he asked.

"Until you see reason without seducing me," I said stiffly. I pulled my face away from his.

"Seems like it will be a while," he responded.

"Go to hell," I yelled as I ran from the room.

I hesitated as I stood in the entrance hall, half expecting him to come after me. When he didn't, I turned right, exiting the house.

My mind wandered as I directed my car toward downtown. My hands automatically took control and I quickly found myself pulling into the parking lot of the bar that most of the teenagers that I knew frequented at least weekly.

I pushed the door open and headed straight for the bar and flashed my fake ID before ordering a drink and flopping down onto a leather upholstered chair.

My attention was caught on a familiar dark blonde head along the wall of the bar.

"Mark?" I called out experimentally.

"Callie," he said, turning to recognize me. He sauntered over and sat in the chair beside me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Shooting pool," he said. "You?"

"Sulking. Why is no one here?" I asked. I looked around and noticed that I recognized almost no one.

"Oh, party at Warren Foster's house. Why aren't you there?" he asked.

"It happens when you get married. Why aren't you there?" I asked. He laughed.

"I'm the new guy," he reminded me.

"Right. Oh, I'll take you, make you popular by association," I suggested.

"You sure?"

"Positive. Come on," I said, draining my drink before grabbing his hand and running from the bar.

Everyone at the party looked surprised when I arrived without Sawyer, but they quickly began accepted me as I led Mark to the dance floor and began to dance to a fast song.

The alcohol was getting to my head. It pounded as I moved easily in time to the movement, my years of cheerleading taking control of my body. As Mark began to move closer to me and we danced, almost touching, I normally would have taken action or at least offence, but under the influence I only wanted to have fun.

Eventually the room began to blur. The voices, as well as my own, became stretched and irregular. My energy began to flag. My dexterity waned.

"Cal?" came a voice from a long, long way away. A face came into view. Sawyer's. My oldest, bestest friend.

"Sawyer," I said.

"Oh God. Come on, we're going home," he said, putting an arm on my shoulder. That was wrong. Why wasn't he allowed to touch my shoulder? I'd forgotten.

"No, I want to stay," I said.

"We have to go. Come here," he said. He caught me as I started to fall and ignored my slight resisting as he took me into his arms and held me tightly. The room began to shake as he walked across it, still holding me tightly.

Hours later I awoke in my own bed, the covers up to my chin, dressed only in my underwear. I patted the space beside me-it was very empty.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed as the events of the night came back to me. Mark. The dancing. Sawyer. My resisting. How that would look to everyone else.

I padded silently downstairs, searching on the wall for the light switch to get a drink of water. As it swished down my throat I felt an acid taste coming on, as though I was about to be sick.

I found a note on the counter-_I've gone to get Advil. I'll be back soon, sorry if I woke you._

The front lawn beckoned to me, and I walked out the door to sit on the grass. I ran my fingers through it, feeling the freshly cutness and remembering all the times I'd run barefoot on it before I'd actually lived here.

A car drove up to the house, interrupting the interminable stillness of the night. I squinted as I realized it wasn't Sawyer and it wasn't his car.

A foot appeared, then a long, slim leg of a woman. Jenny Jagielski slowly eased herself out of her red convertible, adjusting her shirt as she did. She looked up at the house and then down at me, in surprise. I stood slowly and went to greet her on the curb.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked coldly.

"I came to talk," she whispered.

"Lauren said Mom convinced you not to," I said.

"For about a minute. I'm so sorry," she said.

"It doesn't matter. We won't be together much longer anyway," I said coolly.

"What, because of this?" she asked, her eyes bugging.

"Aren't you awfully self centred? No, because I'm seventeen and not pregnant," I said.

"You're not?"

"No. Fluke. Why are you still here?" I asked.

"I need you to forgive me! You're my best friend!" she said desperately. She put her hand on my arm, but I shook her off. She stumbled slightly and fell off the curb, landing on her hard on the dark road.

We noticed the lights at the same time the driver of the car noticed us. I met his eyes a moment before he noticed the contorted shape of his sister-in-law, moments after her fall, half sitting up. His desperate honk sounded, but it came far too late.

She called out to stop as I made to leap out of the curb, already far too late as the car came to a screeching halt. It backed up and the dark form of my husband leapt.

I sank down into the cold dark road and put her head on my lap, meeting her eyes for a sliver of a second before her gaze slid to Sawyer and he took in her bloody face.

"I love you," she said simply, still staring at him as she slid from consciousness.

"Callie… Jenny?" he said in confusion. He knelt beside me, and our eyes met in the darkness, our pupils wide and staring.

"You killed my sister, you bastard," was all I could say.

_Author's note: I guess you must be tired of hearing it right now, but I'm so freaking busy. I'm now finished one of seven exams. Tomorrow is English, which isn't so hard as Latin, which was today's. Anyway, so this might be a cliffhanger. _


	60. Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty

_Author's note: To BrookenLucas12, re your response to my review in 'Mommy, Mommy: I just realized that it isn't the end, sorry about that. I totally watch OC. And by the way, you're on to something. Except for slightly less… creepy. And by the way, this chapter is dedicated to her because she awesomely dedicated hers to me._

Years later, I would dimly remember our frantic parents, the moonlight drive to the hospital, sirens blaring, Jenny's professions running through my head.

As they actually happened, I barely took them into account.

Everyone that had helped raise Jenny was at the hospital. Karen and Keith, Mom and Daddy of course, Lauren, a very shaken Tess, Nathan and Haley, Brooke and Mouth. None of them remotely mad at me, or mad at Sawyer. Though it wasn't my fault.

It was his fault.

I didn't reveal this, during the long night that followed. Neither of us mentioned how it had happened, none of them pressed. If he'd been a stranger, or if he'd been drunk, they'd have been furious. But he wasn't, and he hadn't been, so they were willing to accept him as their Sawyer again.

Eventually I feel into a light sleep. It was packed with odd, jerky dreams of my times with Jenny and the three of us together. When I woke up, I was breathless and felt considerably less rested.

As I looked around the waiting room, blinking to get used to the harsh light, John walked in. Simultaneously, Tess and I sprang from our seats and ran into his arm. He caught both of us and squeezed.

I pulled away and looked back at Sawyer, looking at me with a wounded puppy look. I looked between them three times before migrating over to where my parents were sitting, talking quietly.

I watched as Tess and John greeted each other before focusing my attention on my parents. I only caught snippets of their conversation:

"I can't lose her, Pey."

"How could this happen to us?"

"She's going to be okay, she has to be."

"Callie will be devastated."

"Should we call..?"

I turned guiltily away from them and uncomfortably tried to settle myself on the hard, plastic hospital chair. I dodged everyone's look of sympathy as Sawyer came over and dropped onto the chair beside me.

Perhaps some looks could kill, but mine couldn't. Knowing what I needed, he pulled me onto my lap and settled me in the only way I could conceivably sleep. He ignored my resisting and put my head on his chest. He held me while I squirmed, and continued to hold me after I gave up squirming. He put his coat over me as I finally began to drift off to sleep.

_"Jenny?" my dream self said._

_"Hey little sister," she said._

_From no where Sawyer appeared. He came toward us, and I put my arms out. At the last second he turned to Jenny and folded her into his embrace. They fit perfectly together._

_"But what about me?"_

_"You have them," said Sawyer. Mark and John appeared in front of them, blocking my sister and my husband from view._

_"I don't want them! I want you! I love you! I've always loved you!" I cried._

_"I used to think that was enough," said Sawyer's voice, as if from a million miles away._

_"It is…"_

_"It is…"_

_My voice echoed back to me. They were gone. Everyone was gone._

I woke up, my body freezing with breath. Sawyer was stroking my forehead and whispering into my ear. He rocked me slightly in his arms.

"You're here," I managed to croak.

"Of course I'm here. Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

"I had a nightmare. I'm fine. This is a terrible place," I whispered.

"Yeah," he said. He ran a finger down my face and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

"It's your fault we're here," I said, turning away from him but not attempting to move from his embrace.

After a few more hours, a nurse came out and came to where we were sitting.

"She needs a blood transplant, but her blood is rare. Do any of your have the same type?" she asked.

"My daughter, Callie," said Daddy immediately. I sat up quickly and looked at them.

"Your daughter, Callie Jagielski?" asked the nurse. She looked at me.

"Callie Scott," said Sawyer quickly. I gave him a death glare over my shoulder before turning back and nodding.

"Half sister?"

"No. Well technically yes, same Dad, different Mom. She's married, to Sawyer Scott, their son," said Daddy, indicating Nathan and Haley. The nurse raised your eyebrows.

"How old are you, fifteen?" she asked in surprise.

"Not exactly the matter at hand, but I'm seventeen. Where do I need to go?" I asked.

"With me. I need your guardian to sign permission, and we have to ask you some questions, but pretty soon you'll be good to go," she said.

I followed her to another room where I sat on a hospital bed and said that I wasn't taking drugs, pregnant or a raging alcoholic. After a short while she put a needle in my arm and began to draw blood. A lot of it. By the time she was finished, I was feeling woozy. She helped me down from the gurney and I stumbled to the door.

Sawyer was waiting for me, and looked anxious while I took halting, awkward steps toward the waiting room.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, they took a lot. I feel kind of woozy," I said. He looked concerned again. I looked back at him, and it seemed as though the same thought passed through both of our heads.

Silently, avoiding his eyes, I lifted up my arms and he picked me up as he'd done only the night before, when life had been so simple.

Everyone looked anxious as he set me down and steadied me with his hands.

"Did they tell you anything? Do you feel okay?" asked Mom, reaching for my hand.

"I'm fine. They didn't say. I guess they didn't say anything to you?"

"Only that it would be a while. Go back to sleep," said Daddy gently.

"You too," I requested, afraid of his red rimmed eyes.

_Author's note again: Sorry to AN again, but I have a request. After this is done I'm going to write an OC fic, and I need help with second season details. And I need someone who has seen every episode and is willing to answer finicky questions. If you are, I'd be happy to give away exclusive spoilers to that story after it stars, and other things if you'd like. I'd really appreciate it, thanks! And I don't need first season details, only second._


	61. Chapter Sixty One

Chapter Sixty-One

_Author's note: Never mind, BrookenLucas12 is helping me. Like I knew she would. _

Mom and Daddy convinced us to go home. Jenny was still being operated on, by all accounts hovering between life and death.

I dozed in the front seat while we drove home in Sawyer's white Range Rover.

"Hey, wake up Squirt," he said, shaking me gently. He'd come over to my side of the car to wake me up.

"It was right here it happened," I said dully.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"Because you run her over, or because you're worried about my feelings?" I asked, snatching my arm away.

"It was an accident. And it wasn't my fault," he said.

"Then who's fault was it? Nikki, for giving her such clutzy genes? Sketchers, for making her such crap shoes that can't keep on curbs?"

"There was a reason she was on the road, and that had nothing to do with me. Now I can only assume…"

"Go to hell," I yelled. He surprised me. Instead of going to hell, he pulled me close to him. He pinned down my flailing arms, and kissed my mouth hard until I gave up to him and let his tongue into my mouth.

"God, you have to stop doing that! Every time I'm furious with you, every time you make me want to leave you, and it makes me change my mind! In fact, it almost inevitably makes me sleep with you! You're such a bastard, you know that? You…"

"Callie Scott, do you ever wonder why? Why I kiss you like that, why I care when you leave? Why I go crazy when I hear about you going home on some guy's skateboard? It's because I'm in love with you. God, I love you so much. I always have. I always will. I want to take care of you, keep you safe, shield you from anything that could hurt you, do anything to keep from you're eyes looking sad. I never want you to leave! I want to be with you as much as we used to, as easily as we used to! Just remember that I love you, okay?" he said. I worked to keep my face stiff. It was a miracle, that he still loved me. For a moment, I allowed myself to give into him, and moved closer to his blue eyed gaze. But the inevitable image flashed: Jenny, the headlights, the blood…

"You killed her," I said tearfully.

"Does none of this mean anything to you?" he asked. I took a deep breath, grabbed his collar and pulled him down, kissing him deeply.

"It doesn't mean quite enough," I said, running into the house.

The house was empty and the sky was blue when I finally awoke. I was sprawled ungracefully on the living room couch, a blanket tucked around me. A blanket I hadn't tucked around myself.

After a moment, I realized that I'd awoken to the knocking on the door. I wrapped the blanket around myself (the camisole and panties I was wearing was not quite appropriate) and hastened to the door.

"Mark," I said, greeting him.

"How are you doing? Everyone's talking about what happened, Sawyer and Tess and Lauren won't say anything," he said.

"Sawyer hit her with his car," I said, beckoning him inside.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked, as we entered the house and headed for the kitchen. On impulse, I grabbed a box of cherry tomatoes and began to pop them into my mouth.

"We don't know. I gave blood, but Mom and Daddy wanted us to come home," I said.

"That sucks," he said. For the first time, I began to cry loud, breathy, baby sobs. He awkwardly reached forward and took my in his arms, pulling me close.

I pulled away as soon as I stopped crying. As I did so, my eyes slid into contact with his blue ones, so different from Sawyer's. slowly he leaned down, keeping eye contact with me, his lips aimed at mine.

I turned my face as he came closer.

"I can't do this," I said.

"You're married, I know. I'm sorry," he said.

"I think you're a great guy, but… don't be sorry," I said, smiling.

"Okay, I won't be. I know it doesn't matter anymore, but we have a lab report due on Tuesday, and we've barely started. We're going to have to work on the weekend," he said. Sawyer was going away on the weekend, with his parents to visit his Aunt Taylor. I knew I could get out of it.

"Perfect," I said, smiling and offering him a tomato.

_Author's note: Someone just asked in a review if I would continue to write OTH, despite my recent OC addiction. Of course I'll write OTH. There's even a chance I'll co-write a story soon with one of my favourite authors and bestest online friends. Naley next time, most likely. So don't worry, I haven't completely converted._


	62. Chapter Sixty Two

Chapter Sixty-Two

I should have planned my time better. I should have remember the schedule that had been the same since we'd moved into the new house.

I should have remembered that if I went 'home' on a Thursday, I was guaranteed to have to see my father.

"Callie?" he said in surprise, coming downstairs.

"Daddy," I said coldly. We hadn't talked in a while.

"What's up?"

"Nothing," I said, looking into the fridge.

"Can we talk?" he asked. I whipped my head around to face him.

"What, about Jenny, or about Sawyer, or about both of them?" I demanded.

"All three. Come on, sit down," he requested. I went and stood by his chair.

"This is why, isn't it? This is why you made me get married, why we couldn't possibly wait until February? Because you knew that before then, I'd find out that they slept together and I couldn't conceivably go through with it?" I asked.

"I knew it was what was right for you," he said.

"You're avoiding my question. This is why?"

"Yes, it's why. Are you unhappy?" he asked.

"Yes, Daddy, I am. I was happy for about five minutes before all the newlywed sex wore out and he run over Jenny and I kissed John and stupid Mark started hitting on me," I aid.

"Seeing as you're not, I'm not going to force you too… I mean you don't have to stay… forever… Who are John and Mark?" he said, picking up on the second half of the speech.

"John's one of my best friends, you know, Tess' babies surrogate father, Mark is blonde and very attracted to me and doesn't pick up well on vibes," I said.

"You mean he's trying to seduce you," he said.

"Yes. And I, unlike some others, understand what fidelity is," I shot back.

"You were broken up…" he began.

"Don't! Don't you dare take his side! You know that we were in love, that Jenny was a backstabbing bitch! That Jenny…" I stopped when I saw the look on his face. The look of agony. The heart wrenching hurt.

"Have you been to see her?" he asked.

"Earlier. Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"You're the only one that's done anything. I got a call from the doctor…" he began.

"I don't think I want to hear this…"

"There's nothing they can do. We just have to wait," he said.

"For her to..?" I asked.

"Or live. They didn't sound… hopeful."

I stared in surprise as my Daddy started to cry. My 6"2, basketball playing, pediatrician, Daddy. I knew only two men more masculine than my Daddy and he was shivering and crying like a small child.

My fury melted away, I forgot my sister and my husband together, and I put my arms around him and rubbed his back while his body shaking with sobs. Eventually my own, inevitable tears came and I cried with him, gasping for breath.

"It's my fault," I sobbed, finally coming to the truth.

"It isn't, it isn't. Sawyer and I talked," he said, after he'd taken control over his tears.

"If I hadn't pushed her…"

"It was his car. We shouldn't blame. You gave all that blood, it was more than any of us could give to her," he said.

"I wish we could give more."

"I'd give my life for her if I could. Jenny was the most important person in my life for years, until all you came around and brought it to a tie. She's so special," he said.

"To all of us. If she would only wake up, I'd forgive her anything," I said.

"I know. Could you forgive me anything?" he asked.

"Daddy's, it's not the time…"

"It's the perfect time. I'm sorry, but I did what I needed to do. If you had been pregnant, this would have been the best way to go about it," he said.

"Do you ever wish you and Nikki had married, way back when?"

"I used to. For a long time, I did. Before I met Peyton," he said. Glancing around his head, I saw Mom appear in the doorway. Watched her face rise and then fall as he spoke.

"Hey," I said to her. Daddy turned, and she came to sit with us.

"Do you want to be married, sweetie?" she asked. She took my hand.

"No. Not right now. But I know if I give it up, I can never really have him back. I'm kind of screwed," I admitted, brushing away a tear.

"It's marriage. It sucks in the beginning," she said. Daddy looked at her, and she smiled at him.

"But not in the end," I said, sadly as I watched them exchange loving looks.

"Oh, this isn't the end. You know we're only thirty-five? Damn near the average age for first getting married. It wouldn't be inconceivable for Jenny to have siblings that were this much younger than her," said Mom.

"Oh, please don't. The next kids will be mine," I said.

"What..?"

"I'm not, honestly. But last year, we found Tess' pregnancy test in our house for some reason and we figured it was yours. It was a scary couple of weeks," I explained.

"I'd imagine. Why didn't you just ask?" asked Mom.

"Couldn't. Tried. Where's Lauren?" I asked.

"Oh, we never know anymore. She's heartbroken. She got an unmarked letter from Jason, in which he declared undying love and then found out that he sent Tess the same letter. The exact same," lamented Mom.

"He's such a skeeze. I always knew it. John's so different from him," I said.

"I'd suspect that Tess was falling for John, but for the whole blind devotion to Jason thing. He's been good to her," said Daddy.

"Yeah. He's a good guy," I said.

"Didn't you guys date for a nanosecond last year?" asked Mom curiously. Daddy and I exchanged looks.

"Yeah, and we're still friends. You know, I don't think I have any male friends that I've never made out with?" I said thoughtfully.

"Well, that Mark kid…" began Daddy.

"Yeah, him," I said quietly, looking away.


	63. Chapter Sixty Three

Chapter Sixty-Three

"I went to see Jenny today, poor kid. Peyton and Jake think…" I trailed off, unable to finish my sentence.

"I know. It's so surreal. Remember when we all found out she existed? That day at Karen's? That was crazy," said Mouth.

"Yeah. It was one of my first dates with Lucas," I said wistfully.

"It's weird, how he used to be one of my best friends and now I barely talk to him. Do you?" he asked easily.

"Not often," I said, looking away. Oddly enough, it was a partial truth.

"Where's Kylie?" he asked suddenly. I smiled briefly at him-he was an incredible 'father' to her. Even more so since my divorce had been finalized and the restraining order had forced Tonio Osorio back to California.

"She went to play at Jackie Smith's house, I'm going to pick her up in an hour. Why?" I asked, suddenly curious. Blushing, he'd stuck his hand in his pocket.

"Brooke…" he began. I caught my breath as he pulled out a small velvet blue box. My mind immediately flashes to a thinner, younger Mouth pulling out a small velvet box.

"Mouth…"

"Marry me?" he asked, opening it and holding out to me. He didn't bend down. I liked that. Tonio's bended knee proposal wasn't something I wanted to be reminded of.

"Now?" I squeaked.

"Whenever. I just want to keep our options over. I love you, I've always loved you. I've waited ten years, I'll wait ten more. If I have to," he said. I smiled as a tear leaked out of my eye.

"I just got divorced…" I began.

"I know. Which is why I'd understand if you wanted to wait," he said.

"So it's just like an… eventual thing. I do love you, you know that," I said. He leaned forward and kissed me gently.

"Yeah, I know. So?" he prompted.

"Someday," I promised.

"All I wanted to hear. Do you mind?" he asked. He took the ring out of the box, and I eyed it for the first time. A square emerald, so different from my first husband's diamond. I held out my left hand and slipped it on my finger. We kissed again, deeper and more passionately.

Somewhere in the depths of my mind, I made a decision. A decision to do all the things to the man that I loved that I'd been doing for months a man I only lusted for.

Kissing, we made our way to the living room and fell onto the couch. I ripped off his shirt and he pulled mine off over my head, and silently we admired each other. He, after all this time, was undeniably something to admire. When we'd first met, he'd been a shrimp, small and skinny. When we'd first dated, he has been tall and gangly. Now he'd filled out and though he was no bodybuilder, he made one look twice.

After all the years that had passed, he'd forgotten nothing. He remembered all my pleasure points, remembered exactly how long to hold off before sealing the deal. After all the years, I'd forgotten what it was like to do it with someone you actually loved. Now I remembered.

We lay, half dressed in each other's arms.

"That was incredible," I said eventually.

"I've missed you," he admitted.

"I was so mad at you, after I got married, when I heard you were dating Erica Marsh," I said.

"She was nice. I liked her. But you…" he said. We kissed again.

"You too. I've wanted this-all this-for a long time," I promised.

"Yeah. I hate to stop this, but we have to pick up your daughter," he said. I linked my hand with this and smiled my trademark dimply smile.

"Our daughter."

Hours later, after we'd picked up Kylie from the Smith house and after Mouth had taken her to a movie, I twisted my ring around my finger a few times before coming to a decision.

I sped off along the street, my hands familiar with the way to the most prestigious hotel in town, in which Lucas Scott had spent the last six months.

"Luke?" I called, when I'd walked in, not bothering to knock. After a moment he came out, his hair wet, in a wife beater and boxers.

As I saw him, I made myself think of Mouth. Because there was no denying it-the sight of him, his slick skin, his hair spiky from his shower, still turned me on. I forced myself to put my love before my lust.

He smiled and approached me, his hands dropping to my hips as he leaned in to kiss me. I pulled back.

"I can't do this anymore," I blurted out. He leaned back, stunned. Of course he was stunned. We'd been doing it almost daily for months. Months.

"Why?" he asked. I put up my left hand, and his eyes grazed the emerald.

"Mouth. I love him," I said.

"You've always loved him," said Lucas.

"God, please tell me this isn't actually happening. That you're not seriously saying that it doesn't matter if I love Mouth because I want you and I might as well have both? You've turned into such an ass," I said.

"I can't live without you!" he cried.

"Bull! You lived without me for years! You cheated on me! You're not even in love with me, not remotely. I don't know who you're in love with-Peyton, your mystery girl, but it sure as hell isn't me," I said angrily.

Both of us turned our heads as the door opened swiftly. To my surprise, Dan Scott marched in. We nodded to each other in acknowledgement before he turned to his son.

"One thing I ever trusted you with, one thing and you have to screw it up," said Dan.

"I'm kind of busy here…" said Lucas awkwardly.

"Like I give a damn. You've been avoiding my calls for months. I'm coming up with a new plan soon, I'll tell you if I can trust you with it for some minor task," he said.

"What?" I asked in confusion. Lucas shook his head slightly to me.

"Nice arrangement you've got here, son," said Dan. As quickly as he'd come, he strode out the door. Lucas angrily pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand, and I looked between him and the now closed door.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"You've lied to me enough," I threatened.

"A while ago, after I came here, Dan said he could help me find the girl I told you about if I helped him," Lucas began.

"Helped him?" I asked quietly, already thinking up horrible scenarios that I knew Dan was capable of.

"I had to pretend to be Callie's father. Dan said he'd bribe the people to tell Peyton and Jake the incorrect results of the test, and that I could make up a story about how Peyton was drunk and she couldn't remember," he said.

"I can't believe you did it. But why did Dan do that?" he asked.

"He was watching them. He'd been watching them for years, and he knew what everyone knew, that his grandson and Callie were in love. So he saw them kissing on the basketball court and he talked to Callie, to threaten her, but he found out that she wouldn't back down easily. So he tried a different tactic. If I was Callie's father…" he said. I interrupted him.

"Then they'd be cousins, and they couldn't get married. Why did he care so much?" I asked.

"I'm getting to that. Dan is a power lover. He thought, and he was probably right, that Haley was what distracted Nathan from a truly great career. That if Sawyer never had a great career, it would be because of Callie, who was and is his Haley. So if Callie was his cousin they couldn't get married and she couldn't have distracted Sawyer from becoming one of the greatest players in history," concluded Lucas.

"Dan cares that much? And you did that? You pretended you raped Peyton, who you once said you loved, you lied outright to everyone who cares about you, you betrayed Peyton and her beautiful little girl? All for some girl that Dan couldn't possibly know the location of?" I asked, the monumentality of the events striking me, a sympathy for Peyton, Jake, Callie and Sawyer washing through me. This was the man that I'd repeatedly slept with for months.

"Not just some girl…" he began.

"I guess that's a yes. Forgive me if I never, ever speak to you again," I said, turning to leave. He caught my arm as I turned, and I looked at him, suddenly struck with fear of what this big, strong man was capable of.

"Are you going to tell her?" he asked. I considered this.

"She'd take it better from you," I said softly, before turning my back on him forever.


	64. Chapter Sixty Four

Chapter Sixty-Four

"What are you doing?" I asked, laughing as I came home from school and encountered Mark Delaurier mowing the front lawn.

"Mowing. What's it look like?" he said, turning it off.

"Why?"

"Being a good neighbour," he said, shrugging.

"You so don't live anywhere near us. So, I'd invite you in for a glass of lemonade, but…" I said awkwardly.

"But caveman's coming home soon?" he said. I frowned.

"Hey…"

"Just kidding, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, jogging to his car. I nodded, remembering our plan to work on Saturday.

I walked into the house and began to neaten things up, waiting for Sawyer to get home. I hadn't talked to him since the day before, when I'd gone to my parent's house and poured out my heart.

He drove up with his parent's and Tess in Nathan's SUV and jumped out.

"Sawyer," I called. I ran to greet him in the main hall. He looked at me awkwardly. Since the accident, since I'd begun blaming him, we'd barely touched. I awkwardly went to him and put my arms around him.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault, too," I said. He held me close.

"Come with me," he said.

"I can't, I have so much work to do. I'm sorry. Come in," I said. We walked into the kitchen.

"I have to hurry, I only have five minutes. Oh," he said, as his wallet dropped out of his pocket. I leaned down to pick it up, and it flipped open as I did. My eyes immediately went to a picture of me in my wedding dress. He looked at it to, over my shoulder.

"You looked so beautiful. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. Right before you started down the aisle you looked at me, and then you looked like you were thinking about a memory and you just let your hair down. Why did you do that?" he asked curiously. I opened my mouth dryly, closing it again. In the distance, Nathan honked the horn and Sawyer jumped slightly.

"Hold that thought. I'll call you from the road. Bye, my Squirt," he said, kissing me lightly before departing at a run.

I looked after him as he left, suddenly sad again. I'd lied to him. I'd tricked him into leaving for Taylor's without me so I'd be free to stay behind and work on my science project. Something that was so innocent yet so complicated. Something I could never make him understand.

I automatically reached for the phone when it rang, but was surprised to hear Sawyer's voice:

"Cal, I told Hutchings he could borrow my trig notes, but I completely forgot about it. Do you mind taking them over there tomorrow?" he asked.

"Um, I'm busy all day. Maybe we could get him to come here and pick them up?" I suggested, thinking quickly.

"Do you mind calling and asking him? What's up?" he asked.

"Oh, tomorrow? I'm just studying with some friends. Yeah, I'll call. Have a good time, love you," I said.

"Love you. Bye," he said, hanging up.

Another lie to add to the list…

After we finished talking, I glanced around an empty house and to the desolate beach outside. It was hard to get used to the thought of being completely alone after rarely having experienced it in our time of being married. But tomorrow Mark could visit and protect me from the monsters under the bed.

Still unnerved, I picked up the portable phone from the island in the kitchen and stared at it. Numbers prepared to flow from my fingertips-of my school friends, Tess', my parent's house.

"Lauren?" I said anxiously when she picked up.

"Hi. What's up?" asked my sister, instantly recognizing my voice.

"Do you want to come over?" I asked. She giggled.

"Wow, you can't last one night alone? Poor baby, I'm coming," she said. The phones clicked off.

I waved to Mom as Lauren leapt out of her car and she drove off.

Lauren bounded into the house, curls bouncing.

"God, I can't believe you live here. It's bigger than all the houses on our street," she said appreciatively.

"Yep, bigger than all the ones along the beach, too. It's going to be a pretty harsh reality check when we finally have to start providing for ourselves," I said, giggling as the two of us made our way inside.

"So why didn't you go to see Taylor?" she asked.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked, looking away.

"What did you do?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! It's just that I have a science lab due on Tuesday and my lab partner and I have to work on it on the weekend so I couldn't go," I said innocently.

"Liar. Who's your lab partner?"

"Uh, Mark Delaurier," I mumbled.

"The new guy? The swimmer? Dude, he's hot! No wonder you can't tell Sawyer! Does he like you?" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah. He tried to kiss me," I admitted.

"As in wasn't successful? Quite unlike John," she said.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"Shouldn't advertise so loudly. I know you still don't live at home, but I do, and I hear all. Why?" she asked.

"John didn't kiss me, I kissed him. And I was just showing him that we never would have worked out. It was a mistake," I admitted.

"Yeah. Mark and John are hot, but Sawyer's a lot hotter," she said.

"Down, girl," I said, laughing.

_Author's note: You know what's crazy? Lucas is the supposed star of One Tree Hill, and I'm always mean to him. He's basically always been my bad guy. So next story, I'm going to give it some real Leyton or Brucas, because I'm starting to feel bad for him. Oh, and someone made a really good review lately-an insight on Callie's character, about how she kissed guys she didn't care about, and not that which she did. Great review. Made me feel like I'm really getting through to you._


	65. Chapter Sixty Five

Chapter Sixty-Five

I allowed my towel to fall as I leaned into the shower to adjust the stream of water flowing from the showerhead into the porcelain tub.

I looked up in irritation as the doorbell rang and the sound vibrated throughout the house. Wrapping my towel around myself again, I walked to the window, yanked it open and peered straight down.

"Mark!" I yelled. I saw his blonde head look around before looking up, meeting eyes with me and waving.

"What're you doing?" he called.

"I'm just about to hop in the shower. Um, come inside and relax, I'll be out in ten minutes," I promised, heading back toward the shower.

He made me jump a foot when I arrived back, dripping in water. I'd expected him to relax in the kitchen or outside on the patio, but he'd chosen to drop down onto our bed, and was pursuing one of my paperback novels.

I blushed when his eyes swept over me, taking in my loose, wet hair, my slick body and the white towel wrapped semi-decently around me.

"Hey, Mark," I said, blushing.

"Hey Cal. Sorry to intrude," he said. I inwardly winced as I heard him call me 'Cal'-few did it. Mostly only Lauren and Sawyer, Sawyer most of all. It was all wrong to hear it from his lips.

He got off my bed as I dropped onto it, running a hand through my hair, straight and smooth from my shower.

"So, do you have your science stuff?" I asked, when conversation lagged.

"Huh?" he said, looking surprised.

"Chem lab. Why you're here, remember?" I said, laughing.

"Right. Uh, downstairs, in my bag," he said.

"You didn't think to bring it upstairs?" I said, surprised.

"Guess not," he said, shrugging.

"Well, you should go get it," I suggested. "I have to dry off, anyway."

"I'd rather stay," he admitted. I raised an eyebrow, but was distracted when my hand, roaming the bedsheets, met a rumple. I felt around, and was surprised to unearth one of my bras-a black lacy one. Mark looked at it, and I detected a look of slight alarm. My eyes darted to my underwear door, open slightly. I looked back at Mark in shock.

"Did you go through my underwear?" I demanded. He looked at me, and the garment in my hands. Instead of answering, he reached behind him and turned the lock on the doorknob.

My body tensed as he began to move toward me. I slowly stood, to make my way casually toward the door, but he moved to a run and threw me back on the bed. I screamed, suddenly aware of what his intentions where.

Before I could think, before I could plan, he was holding my wrists in one hand, above my head. I writhed, tried to kick him, bite him, but he wouldn't release his strong grip.

"Sawyer!" I screamed in agony, very aware of the thick walls, the empty community, my husband so far away. _He'd promised to protect me…_

As the name ripped from my lips, Mark brought back his hand and slapped my hard across the face. I whimpered in sudden fear, knowing it wasn't about to stop. Knowing that Sawyer wasn't going to come home, that no one could or would come. There were two locked doors between myself and the world that could protect me. Two locked doors and a strong man in the state of desire.

"Stop it, I'm married," I whimpered. "I thought we were friends."

He began to fumble with his pants zipper. Never had I been so open, with the white towel that I couldn't reach with my hands so immobile.

Mark frowned as my words hit him, and he pinned down my right hand with his arm to access my left. Looking me in the eye, he wrenched my diamond off my finger and threw it across the room. I screamed again.

I tried to turn my body away from him, desperate in my last attempt, but he'd managed to rid himself of his jeans one-handedly. He pulled off his boxers and I caught a glimpse of his hardened penis. I winced and looked away-this was all so wrong.

I screamed one last time as he thrust himself roughly inside of me before I began to moan in pain.

"You like that?" he asked, mistaking my moans.

"No, no, no…" I whispered. I braced myself for another hit that didn't come.

He thrusted twice more, I felt wetness drip down my legs, and suddenly it was over. He released my wrists, climbed off of me and made to find his pants. Slowly the event came back to me and I began to cry.

"What's wrong?" he asked, unperturbed.

"What's wrong? What the fuck do you think is wrong, asshole?" I said, shuddering and pulling my towel tightly across me.

"I only did it because I love you," he said, shrugging.

"God! I'm married! I don't love you! I didn't even want you!" I said.

"Married? Don't see your ring. And if you're really married, you'd tell him all about this. But you're just too afraid to," he said.

"I thought you were my friend," I said.

"There was always more to it," he said. Swooping down, he took my face in his hands and kissed me roughly, forcing his tongue into the confines of my mouth. I batted his hands away as they moved to touch me, and managed to fight him off me.

"I'm telling him tonight," I swore, a fresh wave of tears breaking through me.

"He never has to know. And he won't be back until tomorrow. So I'll see you then," he said, smirking. With a slight, curt, nod he left.

I ran back into the shower and began to scrub soap furiously across my bruised body. I let the water stream over me until it grew cold, and still I didn't move. I feel as if his hands are still on me, his smell is all around me, as he did forbidden things only one man had ever done to me.

I bit back a scream as the door downstairs banged open, but relaxed when the familiar footsteps pounded up the stairs. I hurriedly hopped out, put on a towel and ran into the hall.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hey Callie, are you okay? You looked flushed," he said in concern.

"I'm good. Why are you back already?" I asked.

"Why, expecting someone else? Uh, Taylor and Mom got in a fight so we came home," he said, laughing. I shuddered as he put his arms around me and my mind immediately flew to the hands holding my wrists, the strong weight atop me…

We walked to the bedroom. I forced myself not to break away from his arm, possessively guiding me. _His hand slapped my cheek and went back to my shoulder, pinning me down…_

I began to go sit on the bed, but suddenly a terror struck me of what it could mean. I set a new course, this time for the chair in the corner, and sat down carefully in it.

"You'll always keep me safe, right?" I said suddenly. He turned away from the bureau and looked at me in surprise.

"Yeah, of course. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked in concern. _He'd failed once. He could again._

The phone rang as Sawyer seemingly spotted something on the ground and bent down to pick it up.

"Hello, Calista Scott? We're calling in concern for Jennifer Jagielski," said a confident, brisk nurse.

"My big sister. Is she alright?" I asked anxiously.

"She's awake. She's asking for you," said the nurse. I grinned.

"That's so great. So, so great. Tell Jenny we'll be right there," I squealed. I met Sawyer's eyes and grinned. He ran to me and swooped me up in his arms, twirling me twice before setting me down and crushing me against him. _His body was so heavy against mine that I was completely immobile…_

"That's so great. Uh, this was on the ground over there," he said, opening his fist to reveal my beautiful square diamond. I nodded.

"Um, it fell off, I've been looking everywhere," I lied easily. He took my hand in his, and as he slid it back onto my ring finger I saw his eyes promise all the same thing he'd promised when we'd first married.

"This is the best day ever," he said. I nodded fakely as he squeezed the hand that again bore the diamond.

Never, in all my years of loving him and being loved, had I felt so completely unworthy of his love.


	66. Chapter Sixty Six

Chapter Sixty-Six

The two of us sped to the ER of Tree Hill General Hospital, tires screeching. We checked in and headed immediately to the room Jenny had been unconscious in for days.

I squealed when I saw her and bent down enthusiastically to hug her as gently as I was able. She smiled at me, and I pushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and kissed her cheek before settling down onto the chair beside her.

I looked from Sawyer to Jenny as they nodded and smiled at each other, so aware of my presence that they could not bear to even hug.

"How are you feeling?" I asked anxiously.

"I'm fine. Just a bit broken," she said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Me too," she responded empathetically. We hugged again, and Sawyer mumbled something about coffee before leaving-obviously to give us sister bonding time.

"I gave you blood, did they tell you?" I asked.

"Yeah. I broke my arm, a couple ribs, there was a problem with my heart-in that it wasn't beating-for a while but that's all better. Lots of bruises. Speaking of which, what's this?" she asked sternly, gently touching my slightly puffy cheek. I gently pushed her hand away.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," I said, as calmly as I could.

"Did Sawyer hit you?" she asked, looking very sad for me.

"God no, of course not," I said, not lying for once.

"Then who did?" she insisted.

"Promise you won't tell?" I said at last, looking away and sighing.

"No."

"Jenny! You're my sister! And you owe me! And we're supposed to keep each other's secrets," I begged.

"Fine. What happened?" she asked.

"Mark Delaurier," I whispered.

"Who?"

"Mark Delaurier. He used to be a friend of mine," I said. My mind drifted back to an hour previously… _He slapped me hard across the face when I yelled my husband's name…_

"What did he do to you?" she demanded.

"He… he…" I broke off, sobbing wildly. In the midst of my sobs, I caught sight of her face and saw her easily decipher what had happened, and gasped. She put my head on her stomach and stroked my hair while I continued to cry.

"What did Sawyer say?" she asked.

"I didn't tell him," I said flatly.

"How? How could you not tell him? You could get this kid locked up!" she exclaimed.

"I can't. I tried. I'm too afraid of what he'd say," I sobbed.

"He won't be mad! How could he possibly be? He loves you, remember? He'd kick his ass for you," she said.

"They couldn't convict Mark. There's no evidence anymore," I admitted.

"You showered, didn't you? You idiot, you're supposed to come here to get checked up so they can get samples and shit," she said.

"He wasn't even protected," I said, crying again.

"I guess they generally aren't. Are you on the pill?" she asked.

"No. And I think I just… you know," I explained awkwardly.

"Because that just makes it so much easier. Are you going to do that morning after thing?" she said.

"I can't stand the thought. It sounds so wrong, you know?" I said.

"Yeah, it kind of does. Makes you hurl like crazy, too," she said.

"I can't believe you just woke up and we're talking about me. This should be all about you," I said.

"I don't want to talk about me. I'm sickened with me," she said.

"It's okay. We were broken up. And I got you run over by a car," I reminded her.

"What else are sisters for?" she wondered.

"Beats me. We might have a problem with Lauren, too," I realized.

"What, she likes the psycho freak? Do you ever notice that this year makes last year look mundane?" she said.

"Yeah. Remember how I just used to hook up all the time and our parents had this perfect, fairytale marriage, and my world didn't extend beyond us and the Scotts?" I said reminiscently.

We both looked up as our families began to flow in and descend upon us. I smiled at Mom, Daddy, Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, Tess and Lauren as they all gathered excitedly by her bed and began to buzz happily with talk. In the midst of this, I exchanged a secretive glance with Jenny and she hesitated before nodding slightly in acknowledgement. She wouldn't tell.

But would it make me better off?


	67. Chapter Sixty Seven

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Until the moment we arrived home, I honestly thought I could do it. Thought I could fake the sounds, move the right way, let him into me easily without thinking of Mark. It turned out that I couldn't.

We drove home from the hospital slower than we'd come. He began to fill me in with stories of his trip with his Aunt Taylor, only slightly less insane than she had been, with her husband and two kids. He kissed me slowly and lovingly once we'd arrived in our bedroom, and I found myself able to return his kiss without thinking of anything but him. I was fine until his hand began to slide up my shirt and fondle my bare skin that I had a sudden, horrific flashback that almost made me throw up that I pulled away.

"Um, I don't feel like it. I'm kind of coming down with something. Let's just go to bed," I requested. He nodded, pulled off his shirt and shed his clothing until he was down to his flannel boxers. Blushing, I changed into a camisole and a pair of underwear. I stiffened as his strong arms came around me, holding me as they always did. Strong arms that I couldn't break away from.

Hours later, I awoke to a shattering scream. It was a moment before I realized who the scream had come from-myself. Sawyer, propped up on an elbow, looked down worriedly at me. When he saw I was awake, he took me in his arms, put me on his lap and rocked me slowly and comfortingly while he stroked my hair.

"What's wrong?" he asked at last.

"I had a nightmare," I said.

"What happened?"

"I don't really remember. I just felt so alone and scared, and something was coming to get me," I sobbed.

"I'll never let anything hurt you," he promised.

"You have once before," I didn't say. I should have said it, perhaps.

Slowly as he rocked my sobs calmed and fell into slight shuddering before I slept, my face still streaked with tears.

When morning came, I was surprised to find myself still in his lap. His hands were loosely on me, and he was asleep, his feet off the bed.

I slowly eased myself up, but he awoke before I could fully rise, and gripped me protectively for a moment in the disorientation of the early morning before releasing me.

"So how's Tess doing? I haven't seen much of her lately," I said eventually.

"She's laying low. She's finally beginning to give up on that ass," said Sawyer bitterly.

"Good. Well too bad that her baby doesn't get a father, but good thing Tessie isn't clinging to him," I said.

"The baby will have John, and us. It'll be fine," he said confidentially.

"I wish I could share your optimism," I said.

"Oh, it's easy."

"What would you do, if I was pregnant?" I asked suddenly. His eyes grew wide.

"What, are you?" he asked. He sounded almost excited.

"Not as far as I know. You'd be cool?" I asked, as casually as I was able.

"Uh yeah. It'd be cool. And we'd have graduated by the time you had it, if you were," he said easily. I glanced at the calendar that hung on the wall. It was November 16th-if I'd conceived with either of them, I could have had the baby by July, just after high school would end. Months after Tess' was due, on May 3rd. If I'd conceived. And I hadn't. Probably. Maybe.

I smiled uneasily at him when I realized he was staring at me, half excepting me to make an announcement.

"I'm not, not as far as I know. Just in the off chance, you know? Destiny isn't working for us," I said.

"Works for me," he said smoothly, putting his arm around me and kissing me gently. As his kiss grew harsher and more passionate, I had another flashback-Mark's rush, urgent kiss, so unlike any that Sawyer ever made. I pulled away.

"Let's go to the river court," I suggested. He smiled.

The rolling water of the river hypnotized me as it always did as Sawyer's basketball began to swing through the net as he made shot after shot.

I looked up as I saw a car speed past, and continued to look as the car stopped suddenly and a vaguely familiar dark haired girl hopped out.

She began to walk toward us, and I stared hard, trying to figure out how I knew her. She was short but with an athletic build, slim yet strong. A few years younger than me. Sawyer recognized her as well-who was she?

"Callie, Sawyer?" she asked.

"Uh, hi," I said awkwardly.

"Oh, Lucy Wheeler. We met in Maine last summer," she reminded me.

"Of course! Hi Lucy," I said, suddenly recognizing her eyes and how we'd met her.

"Right, you nearly kicked my ass in basketball. What's up?" asked Sawyer. She looked between us.

"So, you together now?" she asked.

"Married," said Sawyer. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. Um, I came here to find a friend of my Mom's, Nathan Scott? She's going to Japan for a couple months and I'm staying here with him," she said.

"Nathan Scott's my father," said Sawyer. Lucy gasped slightly and stared at him for a second before recollecting herself.

"Cool. That's my Mom, she's just dropping me off. Think you could get me a ride?" she asked timidly.

"Sure, we'll go over with you," I suggested, exchanging looks with Sawyer.

The silence in the car was filled with our lighthearted, meaningless chatter.

We stopped in front of Haley and Nathan's house. The three of us climbed out, and my husband and I began to walk toward the door.

I put a hand on his arm to stop him when I realized she wasn't following us. I looked back to discover her staring, awestruck, at the beautiful three story house, the perfect green lawn, the wraparound porch, the two expensive cars in the driveway.

"Lucy?" asked Nathan, once we'd call come in. She nodded, suddenly shy.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Scott," she said.

"You too. This is my wife, Haley, my daughter, Tess, and I guess you already know my son and his wife?" said Nathan.

"Yeah. They were in Maine, too. Small world, huh?" she said, laughing slightly.

"Small world," he echoed, looking more than slightly perturbed.


	68. Chapter Sixty Eight

Chapter Sixty-Eight

"So who is this Lucy?" asked Haley, later in the day. The four of us (Sawyer, Nathan, Haley and I) were in the kitchen, while Tess showed around the houseguest.

"Oh, a daughter of a friend," said Nathan.

"You keep saying that. Which friend?" she pressed.

"No one you know," he said.

"They can't be that good of a friend if you haven't seen them in twenty years, which, by the way, is how long we've been married. Too long to keep secrets, don't you agree?" said Haley, her voice tinged with annoyance.

"It's a family friend-the kind your Dad wants you to like, but you don't want to like because you Dad likes them. It's no biggie," he said soothingly.

"It is if you're not telling me something! Who is she really? She has Scott eyes!" pointed out Haley. Her words suddenly made sense-Lucy did have the cobalt blue eyes that so many Scott men possessed. Including Nathan. What was Haley insinuating?

Nathan's reaction surprised the whole room. He slammed the down the knife he was using to chop vegetables down onto the wooden cutting board-it plunged into the wood and remained stationary. The three of us stared at it as he spun around and looked upon us, his eyes flashing.

"She does _not_. Her name is Wheeler, not Scott, and she's just a friend. One would think you'd think more of me than that after those twenty years," he said coolly, departing from the kitchen at a swift pace.

"Should I…?" asked Sawyer awkwardly of his mother. She stared after her husband, tears dwelling in her brown eyes before looking at her son and shaking her head.

"No, he needs to cool off. I didn't mean to say that, he just wasn't telling me," she said.

"It was weird," said Sawyer carefully.

"Totally. Haley…" I said softly, as I saw her turn around as a tear streaked down her cheek. I went around to her and put my arms around her. She hugged me back in relief, her maternal feelings for me mixed with her sadness.

"Hey," said Lucy's voice uncomfortably as she and Tess came back into the kitchen. Tess had her hands protectively on her stomach – at four and a half months she was just beginning to show.

"Hello Lucy. Would you like something to eat?" asked Haley as her tears dried, instantly turning back into a perfect wife and mother.

"If it's not to much trouble," she said politely.

"None at all. Dinner's almost ready. You guys are staying?" asked Haley, looking between Sawyer and I. We both nodded.

Nathan appeared just as the five of us were sitting down at the long, shiny mahogany table. He leaned down to gently kiss his wife's forehead, but mentioned nothing of his outburst and where he'd been for the past hour.

"Are you settling in, Lucy?" he asked, as we all began to eat.

"Yeah. Your house is beautiful. I live in Charlotte, and my house is an apartment. Very tiny," she said.

"Sawyer and Tess were born in the two room apartment Nathan and I lived in when we got married, twenty years ago. It was a tight squeeze until we moved to the new house," laughed Haley.

"I remember that apartment," said Sawyer.

"You were like five when we moved," pointed out Tess.

"So? Remember the year we moved down the street from the Jagielskis?" asked Sawyer.

"Mm, good year," I agreed. As he bestowed upon me his smile, I suddenly pictured the anger on his face if I told him everything.

"Who are the Jagielskis?" asked Lucy, who'd been listening to our conversation.

"Me, I'm a Jagielski. Or I was. And my Daddy, Jake, and my Mom, Peyton, and my big sister Jenny and my little sister Lauren. We all kind of grew up together," I explained.

"Right. I met Lauren," said Lucy.

"Yeah. She's like my best friend, you can hang with us at school if you want," offered Tess, slightly intimidated by the newcomer.

"She's like your best friend, or she is?" asked Lucy cattily. The five of us turned out heads to face her. I saw a reprimand rise in Haley's throat before Lucy broke the silence by giggling. I smiled at Tess across the table, who shrugged easily.

I chattered meaninglessly to fill the silence as Sawyer and I drove home in his car.

"I wonder who Lucy really is," I said thoughtfully.

"I know who Mom thinks she is," said Sawyer, his face tightening.

"Yeah. But Nathan would never…" I left the words unspoken.

"I hope not. He was away a lot during those times. If he did that to her, I don't even want to think about what she'd do to him," he said.

"He didn't. He couldn't have. I wish he'd just tell Haley though, so she wouldn't be so worried," I said.

"Yeah, me too. So are you even going to tell me what's wrong with you?" he asked.

"What?"

"Come on, you're acting strange, you're nervous, you're worried about being alone… and I hate to say this, but it's been a while since we've done it," he said.

"What are you talking about? It's not like we do it every five minutes," I retorted, hoping the darkness would hide my blush.

"True, and I know I sound like a pig for saying this, but we used to pretty often. And now you're scared of it. Why?" he asked.

"Why are you so sure something's wrong?" I asked.

"Why are you avoiding my question? And once again, I've known you since the day you were born. I know you pretty damn well by now," he said.

"I'm fine! You're so damn protective!" I said, my voice rising.

"I'm not being protective, I'm just being concerned because I know something's up. I'm worried about you, I still would have been worried if this was six months ago," he said.

"We were together six months ago," I reminded him.

"Then a year ago, whatever. It's seriously been six months?" he said.

"Something like that. We've been married for two," I said.

"Time flies when you're having fun," he said, smiling.

"Time flies… yeah," I echoed falsely.

Lucy Wheeler quickly brought attention to herself at Tree Hill High. The fact that she hung around with Tess and Lauren brought her major points, the fact that she was gorgeous brought her major points (in the summer she'd been pretty, but her makeup and her fall clothing elevated her greatly) and the fact that she was a smooth talker and a bit of a bitch surprisingly brought her major points.

From the outside, it was obvious that she was beginning to lose points in the eyes of Tessa Lydia Scott. This began when John was holding back her hair in the bathroom while she threw up and Lucy walked in, paid no heed to Tess and began to flirt obviously with John. It continued while he looked at her and began to flirt back.

At first I wondered why this affected Tess so deeply. John was her hair holder, her book carrier, her appointment escort, her shoulder to cry on. I thought he meant nothing to her, aside from the gratitude she felt. I thought that despite what she should have felt, despite what was true, she was still in love with the father of her child. But the display of anger made me wonder if she was in love with the other father of her child-that which was not biological, but the father in every other sense.

_Author's note: Guess what? School's over, so I'm on vacation again. Remember spring break, when I used to update three times a night? It's possible I'll get back into that. Lucky you, huh? Oh, and I added a Gilmore Girl's fic, so go read it._


	69. Chapter Sixty Nine

Chapter Sixty-Nine

"Cal, come here!" called Sawyer. Confused, I dropped my book bag and followed his voice to the porch outside. We kissed briefly before I settled down beside him.

"What are we looking at?" I asked, as he stared at the cushion on one of the deck chairs.

"Shh. Wait," he instructed.

"BJ…" I began, but I stopped when the cushion moved and a kitten sprang out.

"That is what we're looking at," he said proudly. I smiled as she began to inspect my left foot, stretched out in front of me.

"What?" I asked, looking sideways at him.

"It's our kitten. Chapman's parents got her, but then they had to move. So he was looking for a new home for her, so I took her in. Do you mind?" he asked anxiously.

"No, not at all. I love cats. You hate cats," I reminded him. I stared at it-it was almost entirely black but for the tip of it tale, which was white, and its back right foot.

"I do hate cats. But I love you, and you love cats," he said, putting an arm around me and pulling me close as he kissed the top of my head. _As I began to squirm, Mark but an arm on my shoulder to stop me from moving away…_

I shook my head to clear it of the image as I looked back to the cat.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Your choice."

"Um. Sallie," I said quickly.

"Okay, sounds good. Any particular reason?" he asked.

"Oh you know… There's Naley, and we're Sallie…" I said uncomfortably. He threw back his head and laughed.

"I suppose we are. I never thought about it. Are you happy?" he asked.

"With the cat? Yes, she's perfect," I said.

"I meant in life, but I guess it's a start," he said, standing and holding his hand out to me.

Part of me wanted to do what I knew what was right. He was being adorable. He was concerned about me. He wanted all my sadness to go away. Part of me wanted to take him upstairs and get back into our pattern of constant doing it.

The other part of me was terrified. That part of me knew that if we went upstairs and got on that bed, I'd begin to remember, to replace Sawyer's body with Mark's. Everything he did that I used to enjoy would remind me of the time I'd been forced into it, the time that had seemingly ruined my life. In addition, I knew that if Sawyer saw all of my body again he'd see the bruise on my collarbone, the one on my thigh, the rings around my wrists – all the telltale signs that screamed out to anyone what had taken place.

The kitten followed us inside and began to explore the living room while Sawyer and I headed to the kitchen.

I smiled across at him as our song came from the stereo-out from it flew the beautiful lyrics that had come to mean everything to me.

"Uh, come here," he said. I obeyed, and walked across to him. He put his hand on the small of my back, and took my left hand in his. Smiling, I put my other hand on his shoulder and we began to dance.

"Remember on the river court..?" I said. He smiled.

"Clearly." He leaned down and kissed me. Banishing all other thoughts from my head, I opened my lips and began to explore his mouth with my tongue while my eyes slowly fluttered closed.

As the song ended, he picked me up and put me on the edge of the kitchen counter and made for my shirt buttons. Quenching my fears, my doubts, I allowed him to keep doing it.

I screamed as he put his hands on my shoulders and began to press my upper body down onto the granite. He pulled back in shock, and I sprang back up.

"You're hurting me…" I managed to gasp.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it… I'm sorry," he said, looking scared. I put my hands around his neck and he hugged me close, rubbing my back and soothing me softly as my tears dried.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Just tired," I said. He took me into his arms again and I relaxed as he began to carry me upstairs, as he'd done so often though usually for an entirely different purpose.

My tears finally stilled as I put my arms up and he pulled off my shirt and I shook off the skirt I was wearing. He stripped off his own shirt and jeans and climbed into the bed beside me, putting his arms around me as I rested my head on his shoulder, as I did every night.

"I'm cold," I said suddenly.

"I'll keep you safe," he said, as my eyelids fluttered and I drifted off to a sleep unplagued by nightmares.

I awoke when the sky was in between night and day. His arms were still around me, and I did feel safe.

"Are you awake?" I asked.

"Of course I'm awake, it's barely evening. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm all right. I've been asleep for two hours? What have you been doing?" I asked.

"Being here. Do you want to talk?" he asked. I took a deep breath.

"Later," I said, losing my courage.


	70. Chapter Seventy

Chapter Seventy

"John, you going to walk me to physics?" asked Lucy two weeks later, throwing her long hair over her shoulder and looking back at him. He looked up from the conversation he was having with Tess and stood.

"Like I have a choice," he said flirtatiously, linking arms with her. I looked between their retreating backs and my sister-in-law as her expression fell.

"She's such a slut," said Lauren venomously.

"She might be related to me," said Tess.

"Tess, don't," said Sawyer, looking away from his basketball friends.

"What? Everyone thinks so. And have you seen her eyes, and how she behaves? I hate how close to plausible it is, but…" she said sadly.

"She's our age almost exactly," said Lauren, putting her head on my shoulder.

"Nathan would never do that," I said.

"I would have said that Mom never would have kissed some loser behind his back but that didn't turn out to be true," said Sawyer.

"But this is different. This is sex. This is complete betrayal. I mean if you find out that I had…" I cut myself off at the searching expression on his face.

"I'd kill him," he said shortly. I reached out and squeezed his hand in artificial reassurance.

"Jenny left again today," I said.

"Yeah. The doctors were amazed at how quickly she's gotten better," said Lauren.

"It's pretty amazing," agreed Tess, lying back, letting her hands rest on her stomach as her dark hair flopped down, shining in the early winter sun.

The four of us jumped slightly as my cell phone rang from inside my handbag. I reached over to answer it, glancing at the screen and smiling before answering.

"Jen?" I asked.

"Hey Squirt. Just got back, I'm a year behind in classes. Guess who else is here?" she challenged.

"Uh oh," I said nervously, already having suspicions.

"That's right. Nikki's here," she said.

"What's she said to you?" I asked.

"Oh, just that she had to leave suddenly before to take care of something. Didn't say what, but she said she could hang around for a couple months. I wonder what happened to her responsibilities?" she said sarcastically.

"She probably just fobbed them off to someone else. It is her way," I said.

"Yeah. Uh, this is long distance and I have to go. Love you," she said.

"Love you too. Good luck… with everything," I said as our phones clicked off.

"How's Jenny doing?" asked Lauren urgently.

"Nikki's back," I announced. The group around me groaned.

"God, she's like a popup book from hell," said Sawyer, rolling his eyes. The tension around us was immediately relieved as we all burst into laughter.

"Ooh, look, it's Mark. Damn he's fine," said Lauren contentedly.

"Mark! Come here!" called out Tess, before I had a chance to stop her.

I forced myself to remain calm as he sauntered over. Mark never walked-he sauntered, he strutted.

I pushed closer to Sawyer, who put his arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Mark, preparing to drop into Lucy's abandoned chair.

"Don't sit there, someone else is," I said quickly.

"Hey Cal. I handed in the report to the teacher," he said. The chemistry report he'd come over to work on. Right. And there it was again-that _Cal…_

"Fantastic," I said, looking away. Lauren suddenly turned around and stared openly at me. She sent me a quizzical look. I could never, ever remember how well my sisters knew me.

"Can I walk you to history?" asked Mark, looking up at me again.

"Uh, no. I'm going home. I feel nauseous," I said. Which was true. Ever since we'd sat down for lunch, and I'd caught a whiff of Lauren's sandwich, I'd had a lingering taste of vomit in my mouth.

Our heads all swiveled toward Tess as she choked on a piece of carrot and had a sudden, violent coughing fit. She met my eyes wildly, and seemed determined to process an urgent message.

"Tess? What's wrong?" I asked, taking Sawyer's arm off of me and rushing to her chair.

"Need to talk… to you," she gasped, out of breath. I nodded, and helped her out of her chair as she directed me quickly toward the bathroom.

"Oh my _God_!" she gasped as soon as we were in the girl's room.

"What?" I asked wearily.

"You're nauseous! You turned down tomatoes-you love tomatoes!" she burst out. I shrugged in confusion. "Appetite changes. Come _on_ girl."

"What?" I asked shakily, my colour leaving me.

"When was the last time you had your period?" she asked, reaching for my hand.

"I don't know," I said miserably.

"Oh God. Let's go to the drugstore," she suggested.

"No, I have absolutely no faith in at home tests. Let's go to the clinic," I said, letting her lead me out of the bathroom.

To the clinic we went. They took a sample, clucked at my age, inquired about the father and sent me on my way with the information that they'd call when they knew.

"At least you're married," said Tess eventually, her eyes on her shoes.

"If only it were that easy," I said in my head.

"What?" she asked curiously. After a pause, I realized with horror that I'd said it out loud.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing, it's something. What? Come on, you can tell me," she begged.

"It might not be his," I admitted, turning away.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, coming around to face me. She should have been furious, but she trusted, somehow, that I hadn't done something stupid.

"Mark Delaurier. He came over to work on a science report and I was in the shower so he went to my room and waited for me to get out and then I got back, all wet and towel wrapped, and I sat on my bed and I discovered he'd been going through my underwear and then he locked the door and then… and then…" I couldn't speak through my tears.

"Oh God. Oh my Lord. Oh Sweetie, why didn't you guys tell me?" she asked softly, putting her arms around me.

"Because I didn't tell him!" I managed to cry in anguish.

"Why not?"

"I couldn't. He'd kill me."

"He wouldn't, he'd kill Mark. How could he be mad at you? You're the victim! It isn't your fault!" she said.

"It's a little bit my fault. If I'd been more careful, if I hadn't lied to Sawyer about having Mark over for the weekend, if I'd discouraged him more…" I sobbed.

"Not at all! He raped you! It's his fault! If he's a pervert and insane, it's not in any way your fault! If you said no, you're not to blame," she said passionately.

"You sound… well versed," I pointed out.

"We're not going in to that. You have to tell him," she told me again.

"I've tried. Honestly. It's just…"

"No! If this baby isn't his, he has to know!" she cried.

"It's not a baby. I can't be…"

"Denial doesn't work like that. Trust me, I've tried," she said dryly.

I dropped her off at her house before driving back to the beach. Our own home was dark-Sawyer wasn't home.

I fed Sallie and stroked her before dropping onto my bed and doing what I'd been doing most often-worrying.

_Author's note: I received the following anonymous review:_

_I don't really like Lucy, but she is a good character because she will cause drama._

_So here's a spoilerish: don't worry, you should hate Lucy. And you're going to hate her a lot more before the end. Which, by the way, is in approximately ten chapters._

_And the star is a quote from Gilmore Girls._


	71. Chapter Seventy One

Chapter Seventy-One

So, I was pregnant. Of course I was pregnant. Nothing had ever been more inevitable.

I sat down to steady myself when I got the call, glad that I was alone in a house, yet completely terrified of it. How could the gods be so cruel to me? I'd gone through my entire life being chaste, and then when I was pregnant I had to have slept with two men. And it was far too late to ever make Sawyer understand.

I stifled a cry as a wave of nausea made me run for the bathroom and empty the contents of my stomach. I already felt more pregnant than I ever had during the scare.

There was no way I could do this. No way I could tell Sawyer, and the chances that I could go through a pregnancy, a birth, and the childhood of a baby without ever telling Sawyer was impossible.

And he was getting suspicious.

His suspicion grew daily when we went to bed and only slept, when I flinched from his touch but rarely let myself be alone. And I was afraid he'd know soon-I'd told Jenny, I'd told Tess. Two of the girls he was closest to in the entire world. Both of which were liable to tell him at any day.

I tenderly placed my shaking hands on my stomach. Like it or no, there was a baby growing. A baby that was mine, whomever else it was. A baby. When it wasn't screaming, it would have a little red mouth and big blue eyes and curly hair and little tiny feet.

A baby that could be a blonde or a brunette. A swimmer or a basketball player. An evil rapist or the best guy in the world.

I needed to stop dwelling.

I was in my car before I could think, roaring toward downtown. I looked out the window as I passed the River Court, remembering all the happy times it had given me. These memories dulled as I saw a lone finger making perfect jump shots and free shots, each one sinking into the net. Why did Lucy Wheeler have to be so good at basketball?

I drove past the street I used to live on. I looked at our house and then the Scott's, where Nathan was shooting baskets. I caught a glimpse of Haley looking down at him from a second floor window. Haley was almost as confused as I felt.

I drove past Keith and Karen's house, past Mouth's, past Lucas' hotel. All the places that held people that loved me, people who would be so much more than happy to advise me, to listen to me cry. Anyone in Tree Hill would be happy to do so. I was a Scott. I was one of the most beloved citizens. Before two weeks ago, I'd symbolized everything that was truly beloved by the town. I was a Princess, they were my subjects. I could talk to anyone, and I'd confided in my sister, based in Rhode Island and in a pregnant teenager.

I was so screwed. There was no way this could possibly turn out well.

I cycled back to the street I used to live on, and parked in the Scott driveway.

"Who is she, Nathan?" yelled Haley, before I could open the door. I stopped to listen.

"The daughter of a friend. I've told you a thousand times," he said tiredly.

"Then why is it that I don't believe you?" she demanded.

"It beats me! I've been trying to figure out why my wife doesn't believe what I'm telling her after twenty years," raged Nathan.

"Oh come on. Everyone from here to Raleigh thinks she's your daughter," screamed Haley.

"For God's sakes Hales! I thought you knew me better! She's not my freaking daughter, she's my sister," he said, suddenly sounding tired. I peaked through the window on the door and watched Haley's stunned expression.

"I love you, you know?" she said, walking toward him.

"I guess you know now," said a voice from behind me. I spun around-Lucy Wheeler was coming up the walk, looking less confident than I'd ever seen her.

"Not really. What are they talking about?" I asked.

"Dan Scott's my father," she admitted, dropping down onto the porch step. I sat carefully beside her as I absorbed this new piece of information. Suddenly it all made sense-her eyes, her basketball talent.

"No wonder you're such a bitch," I said, before I could stop myself. She looked sideways to stare incredulously at me. I opened my mouth to apologize before she burst into laughter.

"No wonder. I haven't had anyone stick up to me since I got here. It's refreshing. You know you're kind of my niece?" she said.

"Yeah, it had occurred to me. Who's your mother?" I asked curiously.

"Sure you want to know?" she asked, an aura of kindness breaking through her cold exterior.

"I think so."

"Nicole Turner," she responded, looking away. I took a deep breath and put my head on my knees.

"Two people that should never have been allowed to reproduce. You poor thing. He's years older than her," I commented.

"I know. She just did it for the money," she revealed.

"Somehow I'm not surprise. I guess you're my half sister's half sister. Does that make you my quarter sister?" I asked. She laughed again. She had a surprisingly nice laugh, but she used it infrequently.

"Sure, why not. You know I'm actually sorry I came here, because it seems to have messed everyone up," she admitted.

"Lucy Wheeler, feeling remorse. Wow. By the way, what's with that Wheeler?"

"Oh, it's my codename. I go by Turner-Scott," she said.

"This has been the most insane afternoon of my life."

"Yeah. Do you think Haley's still going to kill me?" she asked.

"Nope. How's living with Nikki?" I asked.

"Hell. I was hoping my father would take me in, until I met him," she said.

"Gotcha. Um, do you like living with Nathan and Haley?" I asked suggestively.

"Yeah, but they hate me," she reminded me.

"They wouldn't if you started being the you that you're being right now. They're lonely now, with Sawyer not living at home," I said.

"Really think they'd take me in?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure, why not. I have to go. It's nice to meet you, Lucy Turner-Scott," I said jokingly.

"And you as well," she responded before turning into the house.

I stared after her a long time after she'd disappeared. Turner-Scott. The product of Tree Hill's two most notorious. The world would be a different place when it got wind of her.

As I got back in my car and began to drive back downtown, I wondered how we could ever have been so suspicious of Nathan. He loved his wife. They'd been married for twenty years. He wasn't the type to impregnate two women at once-that was more his father's style.

I paused in front of the building before getting out of my car and walking into it. A friendly looking receptionist greeted me, smiling pleasantly:

"Hello, this is the family planning clinic, how may we help you?" she chirped.

"I'd like to get an abortion," I said slowly.


	72. Chapter Seventy Two

Chapter Seventy-Two

I sat down in a hard plastic chair, willing myself to be calm. This was no big deal. Women got abortions every day. They were no big deal.

"_Keep telling yourself that, Callie," _I muttered under my breath. "_That'll make it real."_

A women sitting across from me looked up. She was about thirty and noticeably pregnant-at least six months along.

"Pardon, dear?" she said pleasantly.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Excuse me for being forward, but why are you here?" she asked.

"I'm getting an abortion," I said slowly, avoiding her eyes. She clucked her tongue sympathetically.

"Poor thing. Boyfriend turn out to be bad news?"

"If it was that easy, I wouldn't be here. Actually I'm married, and I'm not sure if it's his," I admitted. She raised her eyebrows but tried her best to hide her shock.

"What happened?"

"About a month ago, this guy I thought was my friend came over and he… hurt me, you know?" I said, looking down.

"Oh dear. The same thing happened to my sister-in-law, and she had the baby and it turned out to be her husband's, but I know it doesn't always work like that. Does your husband know?" she asked. I looked up with a twinge of annoyance. This woman was nosy.

"No," I said shortly.

"Sorry to press. If you told him, he might be more understanding," she said. I nodded and buried my face in a random magazine I'd found on the table beside me.

I felt her eyes on me as I pretended to read an article about getting grace juice out of shirts. I only relaxed when they called her away to have her ultrasound or whatever else she was in for.

"Scott, Callie?" called a voice from the door. I looked up sharply.

"We'll see you now," the voice continued. I nodded and slowly began to stand.

"CALLIE!" called a voice. I turned away from the door and toward the entrance, to which Sawyer had just come in from. He ran toward me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked softly.

"Tess told me you were pregnant, and I kind of figured it out," he said, taking my hands in his.

"What else did she tell you?" I asked shakily.

"That you had something to tell me. What are you doing here? I told you we could handle it," he reminded me. He sat down on the chair beside mine.

"It's more complicated than that," I said, taking a deep breath.

"Tell me everything," he ordered softly.

"Callie Scott? Will you be taking your appointment?" asked the same voice from the door, now sounding annoyed.

"No," said Sawyer, looking into my eyes. She nurse looked between us before shrugging and calling the next name. "Come on, tell me."

"You remember the weekend you went away to visit Taylor? I had a science report due on the Tuesday so I needed to work with Mark…" I began.

"Mark?" asked Sawyer in slight panic, cutting me off.

"Let me finish. So I lied to you and told you I wasn't feeling well or whatever, and Mark came over to work on the science project. That's all I was planning on, I swear. So he came over earlier than I expected him to come, just as I was getting in the shower, so when I got back to our room I was just wearing a towel. And I got back to the room… and oh God, I'm so sorry Sawyer… but I got back and he… he forced himself on me," I said, dropping my voice as I got to the end of the story.

"He raped you," said Sawyer dully. I nodded silently. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I tried to, I just couldn't. I'm so…" I began.

"Don't tell me you're sorry again. It's not remotely your fault. Squirt…" he said, compassion in his voice. He put his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder as tears began to flow.

"So it might be his," I said. He tilted my face up to look in his eyes.

"Callie, I don't care. This baby could be John's, Hitler's, anyone's and I wouldn't care, because not matter what happens, you're going to be it's mother and I'm going to be it's father, not matter what some test says," he promised.

"You really mean that?" I asked.

"Of course. Now come on, I have something to take care of," he said. He took my hand and helped me up, and my hand stayed tucked in his while we walked out to the parking lot and into his car.

Neither of us said anything as he drove confidentially back to residential Tree Hill and stopped in front of a modest red brick house.

He stared at me for a moment before locking all the doors and climbing out of the car.

A second before the door opened, I realized what he was about to do and winced slightly.

As Mark Delaurier came to the door, Sawyer's right arm flung out and punched him squarely in the nose. Before Mark could retaliate, he was down on the ground, Sawyer viciously punching his face. Blood began to spurt out of his nose. Sawyer kneed his groin, and Mark yelled in pain, meeting my eyes as he did so. I winced and looked away.

By the time Sawyer was finished Mark was curled up on the grass, groaning and bleeding.

"Thank you," I said softly, once Sawyer had gotten back into the car.

"I didn't just do it for you, I did it for both of us. And I'm sorry if you think I've been pressuring you, I didn't mean…" he said awkwardly.

"It's okay. I'll let you know when I'm ready," I said.

"Good. How far along do you think you are?" he asked, indicating my belly.

"About a month, I guess," I responded awkwardly.

"Cool. So that's what…. July?" he asked.

"Yeah. I don't think I'm going to be able to go to school," I said sadly.

"I hope you will. I just got offered a scholarship," he said.

"That's great. I want to go home now," I said suddenly.

"Yeah. Me too," he agreed, as we drove off.


	73. Chapter Seventy Three

Chapter Seventy-Three

I nervously punched the familiar number again into my cell and waited while it fruitlessly rang three times.

"Brooke?" came Mouth's voice, sleepily, from our bedroom.

"Just a sec, I'm making a call!" I yelled back.

I made a quiet noise of frustration as the call was forwarded again to Lucas Scott's answering machine. He'd asked me to call him at ten on Saturday. What was wrong with him? Was he okay?

"I'm going out to buy milk," I lied quickly to my fiancé before grabbing my Louis Vuitton bag and running out of the house.

I banged three times on Lucas' door, yelling through it to him to open up. When he didn't, I glanced around nervously and gained access with my key.

I wrinkled my nose at what surrounded me. Beer bottles overflowed the kitchen counter's and all the garbage bins. The place stank of cigarette smoke.

I kicked a magazine out of the way as I walked slowly to Lucas' room. My hand hovered above his doorknob, reluctant to enter the room I'd already spent so much of my time in.

"LUCAS!" I screamed, once I'd entered. He was lying on the floor, his eyes half closed, pale as death.

"Brooke…" I heard him whisper.

"Oh Luke, what have you doing?" I asked, running to him and kneeling by where he lay. I took his hand and squeezed his fingers.

"Took some pills…" he managed to stay. I felt for his heartbeat.

"Why?" I asked, as I reached for my phone.

"I had nothing… left," he said.

"Hi, I need an ambulance…" I said into the phone.

"Don't… Tigger…" he said slowly. In spite of myself, I smiled at him.

"I'm not going to let you die," I promised.

"You should… Broke hearts… Peyton's… Yours… Hers… she's gone…" he said.

"You're not making sense. Save your breath," I urged.

"And now… you have M… Mouth, Peyton has Jake and their girls… I have no… no one," he said. His words were beginning to make less and less sense. His eyes fluttered again.

"You have us. You'll always have us," I promised.

"I don't want you… not only… like that," he said.

Outside, I heard a siren blare. It was almost time. What was he saying?

"Take care… of everyone… Lucy… my sister. Tell Haley…" he said.

"She knows already. Don't worry, we'll all be fine until you get out," I said.

"Never… out… Brooke…" he said. The door burs open, and three paramedics and with a stretched enter unceremoniously.

They bundled him onto the stretched, checked his pulse and attached some kind of mask before taking him out. One of the paramedics lingered.

"Who are you, a relation?" he asked.

"Not really. Just a friend," I said, looking through the open door.

"Why did you have his key?" asked the paramedic.

"I used to be his mistress. Can we go with them?" I asked. He nodded, and we ran out the door.

I rode in the ambulance, but once we arrived at the hospital they took Luke somewhere and made me stay behind, in the waiting room.

"Mouth?" I said into my phone, after it rang.

"Brooke? Where are you? Are you okay?" asked his voice anxiously through the phone.

"I'm fine. I'm at the hospital. Luke tried to kill himself," I explained shakily.

"Luke? As in Lucas Scott? How do you know?" he asked, his confusion evident.

"Hard to explain. Come down here and I'll tell you everything, I promise," I swore.

"All right. I'll drop Kylie off at Peyton and Jake's," he said slowly.

As soon as he arrived, I charged into his arms and cried while he held me.

"Brooke, what's going on?" he asked gently, leading me back to the chairs.

"I don't know. I brought him here and they took him somewhere and they won't tell me anything," I said.

"I'll find something. But how did you find him?" he persisted.

"You're not going to like this," I began.

"Always a good way to start a story. Tell me," he pressed.

"Well, Lucas and I slept together for months," I said brightly, taking a sip of coffee. Mouth sighed.

"Yeah, I kind of knew," he admitted.

"How?"

"Lucas told me. He was being an asshole," said Mouth.

"And you don't care?" I asked. It bothered me slightly that he didn't care. He was supposed to care.

"Of course I care. But we weren't technically together. And I know it's over. And I'm so thankful that we're finally back to where we started that I wouldn't care if you slept with everyone in Tree Hill," he declared. I leaned forward and kissed him.

"You're incredible. I love you. And I basically have," I joked.

"Miss Davis?" calls a voice. I run over to a stern looking nurse.

"Mr. Scott is going to be fine in the long run. We pumped his stomach, we recommend rehab and a possible environment change," she said.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, it's so good to hear that," I blubbered.

I looked back to the small grouping of chairs to where Mouth was sitting. He'd lied to me. He did mind, at least a little bit. He still thought I was too good for him. Still thought that this wasn't real, that all of it had just been a good dream. There was one way, and one way alone to get around this.

"Hey, I have an idea…" I began.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked much later, as we pulled up in front of Tree Hill City Hall. I nodded slowly, waited until he came around to my side of the car to open the door, and climbed out. Together, hand in hand, we walked into the building.

And when we walked out, we were married.


	74. Chapter Seventy Four

Chapter Seventy-Four

"To Brooke and Mouth!" came the low rumbling of ten people speaking at once. We raised our glasses of champagne (mine was ginger-ale) and drank.

After the celebration dinner was over, the crowd began to mill around the house. We were at my parent's house, and the crowd wasn't exactly large-us, the Scotts, Lucy, Kylie, Mouth, Brooke, Lucas and Karen and Keith.

Two weeks ago, Lucas had had his stomach pumped for almost overdosing. He was going to rehab in the morning, one of the reasons the party was tonight.

Guiltily, I crept up to a room with a half closed door that I'd recently seen Brooke enter.

"What were you trying to say, the night you tried to kill yourself?" she demanded. Through the crack in the door, I saw his blonde head look up sharply.

"Nothing," he said quietly.

"That's not true. I've known you for twenty years Luke, you'd think you could tell the truth to me," she pressed.

"Brooke, I'm in love with you," he admitted. I forced myself to not gasp as she leaned down and kissed him. A real kiss. Not a peck.

"Part of me will always love you, Lucas Scott. The other part of me is married," she said sadly, departing the room.

She exited the room and turned right. I flattened myself against the wall, but she saw me anyway. To my relief, she giggled.

"You little snoop. Come on, we have to find Haley and Peyton. I have the oddest feeling that you have something to tell us," she said mysteriously.

"He did what do you?" asked my mother, fifteen minutes later, as the four of us sat around a table.

"Don't make her repeat it," cautioned Haley. In a heartbeat, she was up from the table with her arms around me.

"And you're pregnant?" asked Brooke.

"Yeah. Sawyer said he'd raise it to be his, no matter what," I said. Looking up at Haley, I saw a look of pride flash through her face.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Brooke. I looked up at her, and displayed my thoughts in my eyes for a second. Why didn't you tell us, Brooke? About Lucas, and the hotel room? About Antonio and the abuse? About all your lies?

Brooke looked down, but not before Mom noticed and looked sideways at her with an analytical look.

"When's it due?" asked Mom at last.

"July," I said.

"I'm happy for you," said Haley suddenly.

"Thanks," I whispered.

After a moment of silence, I stood and walked away from them. They pretended they understood, but they didn't. No one did.

These thoughts flew from my head as I passed the same bedroom I'd seen Lucas and Brooke in.

Two weeks ago, I'd thought Lucy Turner-Scott had had a change of heart.

I thought she'd given up on backstabbing.

I thought she'd grown more compassionate.

I thought she'd given up on John Fenning.

As it turned out, none of these things were even remotely true.

I squeezed Tess' hand as she came up behind me and saw her aunt make out with the surrogate father of her child. The man who had come to mean everything to her, romantically or not. The man who protected her, listened to her, cared for her always. The man that was her best chance of happily ever after.

The man that, as it turned out, was only a boy in disguise.

_Author's note: It is time now to make an announcement none of you want to hear. At least, hopefully. I've always said this was a trilogy, and I'm keeping with that. I've taken this idea as far as it will go. In fact, I've taken it considerably farther. I already have an idea for a Naley fic (don't ask about it, it's going to be a surprise. It's only known to a select few) and a plan for a one shot sequel to my one shot, Nevermore, and perhaps a one shot sequel to this so you can check up on everyone. In addition to the Gilmore Girls fic (which doesn't exactly have a plot…) that I'm trying to write, and the OC fic I've been mentioning for a while. So very soon we're going to have to say goodbye to Sawyer and Callie._


	75. Chapter Seventy Five

Chapter Seventy-Five

_Chapter totally dedicated to x going nowhere because she's been making really long, awesome reviews. And who the following chapter is inspired by._

"Tess? Tess?" I called. I was looking for my sister-in-law, who'd gone AWOL upon seeing her aunt and her best friend go at it.

My ears perked up when I heard a sniffle in the far corner of the guest bedroom. I walked slowly toward it and sank down to the ground when I saw Tess crying her eyes out, her arms on her rounded belly.

"Tessie, what's wrong?" I asked tenderly.

"What ever happened to me, Cal?" she asked.

"What?"

"Look, last year I was a straight A student, a star athlete, one of the most popular freshman, everything anyone wanted. Like a younger version of you. And now I'm pregnant. The father's abandoned, me, and this is a guy I once thought I loved. And he cheated on me with my best friend. My best friend, Callie. And now the only person I know is always going to be there, always, has let his hormones get the better of him. She's my aunt. What kind of person does that with someone's aunt?" she sobbed. I put my arms around her and she leaned into me.

"I think John doesn't know how you feel about him," I said slowly.

"I don't feel that for him," she said stubbornly.

"I think you do," I said, as my cellphone rang. I prepared to ignore it.

"Go, talk, I want to be alone," she muttered. Reluctantly I stood.

"Callie?" asked a cheerful voice in my ear.

"Oh my God, Jen, how could you not tell us?" I asked, once I was out of earshot of Tess.

"About what?"

"Lucy!" I raged.

"Oh, Nikki's daughter? She asked me not to," she explained.

"That's all she said? Did she also explain that Lucy is my half aunt… in law?" I asked, pausing as I attempted to figure out the link. Through the phone, I heard Jenny do the same thing.

"Dan?" she squeaked.

"Uh, yeah! Not to mention that Lucy is an uberbitch. Which is kind of inevitable, if you come from those two, but as we speak she's making out with John!" I said angrily.

"Tess' John?" she asked in a small voice. Jenny was slightly out of the loop.

"Yeah, Tess' John who used to be my John that was never, ever supposed to be Lucy's John! So Nikki didn't tell you who her father was?" I inquired interestedly.

"Nope. Said I didn't know him. Lucy wasn't around much, bit of a wild child," she explained.

"She crash landed here a couple weeks ago. She's a hell raiser," I complained.

"Yeah. Sometimes she has a breakthrough though, you know? Like she tries harder to do better or something," explained Jenny.

"Yeah, saw that, fell for it," I said.

"Poor Tess. How's she doing? And BTW, what about the elephant in the room? How are you, sweetie?" she asked.

"Pregnant."

"Oh God. What did Sawyer say?" she asked, her breath bated.

"That he'd be father to it, whatever tests say," I said.

"You got lucky with him," she said. I detected something more than mere happiness for her baby sister.

"Jenny, I have to ask. The day when Sawyer… you know, just before you blacked out, you looked him right in the eye and told him you loved him. What did you mean?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. Really it doesn't. He loves you. You've won," she said.

"You're in love with him?" I asked.

"Who could not be?" she asked.

"None of the Jagielski girls, as it turns out. I hate to say this, but I'm lucky. He used to be in love with you. I'm glad that never happened," I whispered.

"He wasn't in love with me. Not really. He thought he was. He wanted to be, because being in love with you was so damn complicated. He was in lust with me, perhaps. Always Sawyer Scott was in love with you," she said. A grain of sadness crept into her voice, and I felt sadder for her than I ever had before. My sister had nothing, and I had everything.

"I'm so, so sorry," I whispered into the phone.

"Don't be. You've made me believe in soul mates, Squirt. I love you, little girl," she said. I smiled through my tears.

"I love you too… Po," I said. I could hear her smile through the phone. Somehow it's vibration got to me and shined all the way from Rhode Island.

She hung up the phone. I wandered into my old room, threw myself on my bed and cried my eyes out.

"Cal?" came a voice nervously, twenty minutes later. Sawyer came and sat on the edge of the bed. I rolled over to face him.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too," he said in confusion.

"No, I really love you. So, so much. And I know I've made you doubt that, and I'm so sorry. And I know I haven't honoured it like I should have. I've been a horrible person," I said. I gave him my hands and he pulled me up and sat me on his lap, holding me like a small child.

"How could I possibly blame you for that?" he whispered into my ear.

"I don't deserve you," I said, a fresh wave of tears breaking out.

"Stop talking like I'm a God. I'm not. Remember when we first wanted to get together, how I made out with Jenny? And abandoned you when you were so scared, just after we found out about Nikki? And how Jenny and I slept together? I hardly deserve you," he said. I stroked his cheek.

"You're perfect," I whispered, leaning up to kiss him lightly.

"You too. What's wrong with Tess?" he asked.

"Oh, Lucy and John are making out," I said.

"That bastard. Want me to go kick his ass?" he asked.

"Nope. Tess needs to figure out what she wants," I explained.

"She never was good at that," he said.

"Wow, deep. Oh, the ultrasound folk called today. It's all good," I said.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" he asked.

"A girl, of course," I said.

"Yeah? Well I want a boy," he said stubbornly.

"We'll have a boy next," I suggested.

"Next?"

"Yeah, there might be a next. Who knows?" I said.

"But we should probably wait for the next one…" he said.

"Maybe. But I'm glad my sisters and I are so close in age," I said.

"Yeah. We'll see how we feel when the time comes," he suggested.

"So we will, Sawyer Scott, so we will," I said contentedly.


	76. Chapter Seventy Six

Chapter Seventy-Six

Five months later, Tess went into labour.

The seven of us gathered around her hospital bed, silently admiring her beautiful little boy. We all smiled when his eyelids fluttered open and revealed deep blue Scott eyes.

"What are you going to call him?" asked Sawyer. He was standing beside me, his hands on my protruding stomach.

As Tess opened her mouth to speak and to name the baby, the door of the small hospital room burst open. John Fenning ran in, out of breath, and joined the small crowd around the bed.

"Tess! I'm so sorry, I just heard. He's perfect," said John.

"Yeah," said Tess quietly. He looked at her in surprise. In the past five months, John had done everything that had been expected of him, everything he'd promised to do. But the warmth was gone from it. The beautiful friendship they'd once shared had withered and died.

"Are you mad at me or something? What did I do?" he asked. In that moment, Tessa Lydia Scott seemed to snap. She let out a small yelp that surprised the child in her arms.

"God! You're such a tard sometimes!" she said in frustration. Rearranging the child so he could rest on her without her support she reached up and took his face in her hands. Yanking him down to reach her, she brought her face up to kiss him.

The rest of us looked on as his lips parted and they sank deeply into the kiss that had been coming for months.

"I love you," he breathed when they were finally done. I bit back a cheer.

"It's about time," she whispered, leaning up to kiss him again. She focused her attention on the rest of us.

"His name," she said, pausing dramatically, "Is Gavin Scott." She paused again, and looked into the eyes of the man she loved. "Gavin John Scott."

I tugged on Sawyer's arm to discreetly lead him out of the room.

"That's going to be us in a few months," commented Sawyer.

"Yep. Basically," I agreed.

"Except for the whole… you know. But I'm happy for her," he said.

"Yeah. Killing two birds with one stone, no?" I inquired.

"What?"

"Oh, your sister gets to be happy, and you get him out of the way," I said.

"Sure, why not. Whatever you say," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Let's go in here," I suggested. We were passing an empty room. He looked in, shrugged and nodded.

He sat down on the end of the bed and waited for me to join myself. Willing myself to gain courage, I closed the hospital door behind me and looked straight at him.

Sawyer's eyed widened as I began to walk slowly and seductively toward him. As I reached him, I took both his hands, climbed onto his lap and wrapped my legs around his waist.

"Are you sure…" he began. I cut off the flow of words by kissing him deeply. Slowly he fell backwards on the bed, and wrapped his arms around me.

My pregnant stomach made it more difficult, as did our long months of abstinence. But as we had before, we found our way around each other's bodies in the way we'd always been able to do.

"I missed you," I said at last, when we lay half clothed in each other's arms.

"I can't believe we let that bastard take anything away," said Sawyer.

"Don't. I don't want to think about it anymore," I said. The months of therapy had given me too much time to think about it.

"Okay. I can't believe my little sister just had a baby and we're in here," he said.

"She's busy, too," I said softly.

"This has been the most insane year of my life," he commented. I thought about that-it had been a year. Last year in May we'd begun to piece together the mystery of Nikki, which was when the whole craziness thing happened.

"Mine too. The best also. During some parts of it. In other parts, it was the worst," I said.

"Surprisingly, I know exactly what you're talking about," he said. We shared a laugh.

"Shh," I said suddenly, as two familiar voices passed by the room. I walked silently to the door and opened it a crack to listen.

"It's our anniversary soon," commented a voice. It was Mom's voice. I peered through the crack to see her and Daddy resting on a bench opposite our room.

"Yeah. Nineteenth. Maybe we should just skip it in preparation for our twentieth," suggested Daddy jokingly.

"Shut up. Lucas got out of rehab," she said.

"I heard. I hope he can get better," said Daddy.

"Sadly, I think the best thing for him to do would be to get the hell away from here," she said.

"Yeah. Sad. I cannot believe it's been nineteen years," he said.

"Yeah. Nineteen years, two babies… One breakup, one reconciliation. Um, two houses, three job changes, one marriage, one pregnancy, one year of complete and total shock…" recited Mom. Daddy laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"Wouldn't give it back for the world," he said.

"Jake, this is the world," she said. Their eyes met and they kissed.

"I once wished with all my heart that Nikki would come back to me. That we could be a family. I'm glad she never did," he said.

"She did. You just saw through her," Mom reminded him.

"She tried again, when she showed up last year," he said.

"I knew."

"You knew?" he said in shock.

"Of course I knew. Truly evil people can be counted on for one thing: To always be truly evil."


	77. The End

Chapter Seventy-Seven

"MOMMY!" came a call from the far reaches of the house. I groaned and rolled over, disentangling myself from my husband's arms.

"Who was that?" I moaned.

"Uh, Tara. Or Jordan. One of the two," he said.

"So one of our two children is calling me mommy? Thanks a bunch BJ," I said sarcastically.

"AUNTIE CALLIE!" came another yell.

"Who was that?" I said again.

"Definitely either Gavin or Aidan," he said, referring to Tess and John's son and Brooke and Mouth's son, who had been born three months after our first daughter, Tara.

"So either one of the two children in the house that call me Aunt Callie? Thanks, BJ," I said. "You're totally going down there."

"No, this one's all you," he said. I rolled over on to him and surprised him by pressing my mouth on his. His arms were quickly around me, moving up and down my back.

"Come on, go," I whined.

"Oh, you need more than that to convince me," he said, winking.

"Bastard. Kids, I'm coming!" I yelled.

Draping a dressing gown over my frame, I began to make my way through the maze of bedrooms to Tara's, which was being shared with her little sister Jordan, her cousin Gavin and her best friend Aidan on their sleepover.

As I got into the room, I dropped in exhaustion onto the carpeted floor. At once, six year old Jordan threw herself into my lap. I kissed her and held her tightly.

Jordan was still just more than a baby, but already she had potential in every sense of the word. She had a beautiful voice for such a small child, an amazing jump shot, and the light brown hair and big brown eyes of her paternal grandmother.

Tara, at ten, was slower to come and greet me. She slung an arm around me when at last she arrived, dressed in pink pajamas. I put an arm around her and squeezed her into me.

She was a tolerant child. She somehow managed to deal with her little sister intruding on her sleepovers and stealing her clothes. I fancied myself that she and her sister were both equally beautiful-Tara had my hair, my skin, my features. My height. She was taller than Jordan, but Jordan was much taller than Tara had been at six.

Sometimes, I looked to long and too hard at my eldest daughter. Sometimes, I scared myself into thinking Tara Jennifer Scott had the eyes of Mark Delaurier.

Shaking my head slightly, I looked to the far corner of the room. Gavin and Aidan, bored with all the females in the room, had their heads bent over comic books. Gavin was an odd trick of fate-he looked like the biological child of his mother, Tess, and her husband, John, though he was his uncle. Aidan had his mother's dimples, her smile, and a bit of his father in him that endeared him to all he met.

"Guys, you have to get dressed. Everyone's coming soon," I reminded them. Their parents, my parents, Sawyer's parents and just about everyone else we knew was coming over to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Nathan and Haley.

I leaned back on my husband and smiled as the guests pored in. Brooke and Mouth embraced their son as did their sixteen year old daughter Kylie, who quickly rounded up the children and did her best to organize them.

Tess and John appeared next. Tess was holding her baby, the youngest at the gathering. Zachary Nathan Fenning had been born only weeks previously.

Lucy arrived solo. In the past ten years, her bitchiness had decreased slightly, and she'd become almost lovable.

Lauren and her husband Kevin restrained a toddler each. Her daughter, Isabel, and her son Michael were almost as much as the pair of them could handle.

Jenny had yet another new man with her. I hugged her joyfully, and forced myself to swallow the lump of guilt that lived in my throat whenever I wondered whether or not she was happy.

Mom and Daddy, married officially twenty-nine years, greeted us before rushing around to greet their grandchildren and all their surrogate grandchildren.

Nathan and Haley's own grandchildren swarmed around them when they arrived. Jordan, Tara, Zachary, and Gavin all exchanged hugs with them.

Karen and Keith had only great great nieces… or cousins… or something. It was a hard thing to figure out.

Eventually the whole lot of us wandered down to the beach. I discreetly pointed out Tara, her arm clamped around Aidan to Sawyer. He smiled and kissed my lips.

The conversation dimmed as Mom went up to the head of the crowd and began to speak.

"You know, thirty years ago, Nathan and Haley were only sixteen. And at that point, pretty much nobody were happy with them getting married. Quite frankly, I thought they were kind of insane," said Mom. Most of the crowd laughed as they remembered that Mom had been married at eighteen, only two years later. "Anyway. They persevered. They knew that they were right, and that they were meant for each other. And they are! They've had their bumps, I mean who hasn't. But they have what some people looks for their whole lives. And look at all of us here on this very beach. If Nathan and Haley had done the smart sensible thing, Sawyer and Tess wouldn't be here. Which would mean that their beautiful children, Tara, Jordan, Gavin and Zachary wouldn't be here. And believe it or not, Haley was a big force in my marriage. So without her, who knows if Callie would be here, or her sisters Jenny and Lauren? And Lauren's children, Michael and Isabel? All I'm trying to say that if Nathan and Haley contributed to all these people, as well as all the love that stills stands between them, it's a good thing they never listened to anyone back then," said Mom. Everyone cheered as they raised their glasses and drank.

Slowly and hesitantly I stood. I'd promised Mom I'd make a speech, but I was far from looking forward to it.

"Like the bumps my mother was talking about, my marriage has had it's own. The largest of which was probably when Sawyer was initially trying to get married. You know, he was pretty desperate in those days. Anyway. I can honestly say I never could have gotten through that first year without my parents in law. They've loved me like a daughter my entire life. They knew what was right for me even when I was convinced it was completely wrong. They as people, and their marriage, have always been examples to me and always will be. And remember how my Mom was talking about all the people they've affected and created? That's true. But uh, she missed out on one," I announced awkwardly. Sawyer, standing behind me, came up, kissed the side of my face and placed one of his large, square hands on my stomach. In realization, the crowd cheered in congratulation.

"Yep, because there just aren't enough Scotts in the world," he joked. Our daughters, Jordan and Tara looked confused. I promised myself I'd explain to them later.

Hours later, after all of our guests had gone home, the cleaning staff had made the house decent and our daughter were finally and bed, my husband and I fell onto each other.

"I don't think I ever believed that the last ten years would have been like that," said Sawyer.

"Me neither. I mean, I have two kids. I thought I'd be just getting married, ten years after high school," I said.

"I know. And who would have believed that Sawyer Scott got past his pimp days at seventeen?" he asked.

"No one. And I thought I'd wait until marriage, and only ever be with one…" I cut myself off and blushed. The whole incident was and always would be an elephant in the room.

"I'm glad the last ten years were like this," he said, after a short, awkward pause.

"Me too. Most of the time," I said quietly. Gently he put his arms around me.

"It's almost our birthday again," he reminded me.

"Yeah. We should go to the Bahamas," I suggested.

"Mm. Leave the kids behind… drink lots of margaritas… pretend we're newlyweds…" he said.

"Why?"

"Oh, for the newlywed sex," he joked. I lightly slapped his arm.

"Can you believe we're twenty seven?" I said in disbelief.

"I know. Almost senior citizens," he said.

"Sawyer Brian Scott, I have the oddest feeling you're making fun of me," I said. He rolled on top of me and silenced me with his lips.

"Calista Brooklyn Jagielski Scott, I have the oddest feeling you're correct," he said.

"Calista Brooklyn Jagielski Scott. It's quite the mouthful," I commented.

"That's why you're just my Squirt," he said.

"Your Squirt?" I asked provocatively.

"And no one elses," he said, falsely serious. We kissed again.

"I love you so, so much," I said.

"I love you too. I mean, apparently it's been incredibly obvious since we were thirteen," he said.

"Oh no, I've recently discovered that it was obvious at eleven," I countered.

"Whatever," he said.

"Goodnight BJ," I said, rolling over. I smiled as he snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me into him. He was right-I wasn't anyone elses. And thankfully, neither was he.

THE END

DEFINITIVELY

_Author's note: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's read all or any part of this. Because after Three stories, one hundred and fifteen chapters, 316 pages, 181,121 (!) words, four marriages, seven new Scotts, four new Jagielskis, and four pregnant teenagers I have received 549 reviews. 549! Thank you so much. That's amazing, and I'm so proud of all of them._

_In addition, I'd like to thank Nathen'sraven for all her input and spoilers, and all the emails we've exchanged, and all the inspiration she's provided me with. And also BrookenLucas12, who's cool and an awesome writer besides._

_And besides the fact that this is the definitive end, eventually, when you least expect it, I'll write a one shot to go along with that. _

_I don't know if I have to do this but I do not own the characters created by the lovely WB people. I only lay claim to Calista Scott, Sawyer Scott, Tara and Jordan Scott, Tessa Scott Fenning, John Fenning, Gavin John Scott, Zachary Nathan Fenning, Lauren Haley Jagielski, her offspring and spouse, Lucy Wheeler-Turner-Scott, Mark Delaurier, Eli Hutchings, Rhys (remember him?) Kylie Osorio, Aidan McFadden and Antonio Osorio. Who, unfortunately, was killed in a mysterious shooting accident. Anyway._

_Once again, thank you for reading and keep your eyes out for my next story, Broken Alliances._


End file.
